Overcome
by PEANUT v1.2
Summary: Through a series of highly unfortunate events caused by scheming enemies, the team realizes that their most experienced member is, above all, human. All of them begin to wonder: Will Robin be overcome by these unfolding tragedies? Will they?
1. Chapter 1: The Fall

Chapter One: The Fall

Even though he wasn't the team leader, Robin couldn't help but survey the team every once in a while. And he had to say, they came a long way. Conner was controlling his anger better, Artemis and Wally were starting to click as both teammates and friends, M'gann was growing in confidence, and Kaldur was managing everyone well despite some initial fears of becoming leader.

Aside from all his friends, he saw growth in himself, too. As Batman's partner, he had felt a sense of superiority and false maturity. He had elevated himself too highly and believed that he would always make the right decisions in battle, just like Batman. But he had to fall from that height eventually.

It was just a typical stealth mission when it happened. The team had done plenty by now, since Batman favored sending them into locations to gather information. This one was in the middle of a rainforest in the middle of nowhere. It had recently down poured, so he and his team were chilled to the bone as they sat at their various lookout spots.

The pairs were simple: Miss M and Superboy, KF and Aqualad, and him and Artemis. Solid teams.

Now if only they had a chance to show it. Dick realized the importance of stealth missions (how could he not, with Batman as his mentor), but these guys that were in the warehouse down below were bad news. It seemed like they were developing some kind of toxin to release on local villages.

" _Robin, Artemis, do you see anything from your location?"_ Aqualad asked through telepathic link.

" _No, nothing. No movement inside or out front. The camera's still lit up, but that's it," Robin reported._

" _Understood. Miss Martian?"_

" _Nothing here either. To be honest, it's a little suspicious."_

" _I agree. Let's proceed closer. Exercise caution."_

"Finally, I get to stretch my legs!" Robin exclaimed aloud, though his voice was still quiet.

"Yeah, agreed." Artemis stood up beside him, reaching for her bow. "How long were we out here?"

"Only about two hours."

"Yeah, only," she muttered.

Robin only briefly glanced at Artemis before he dropped down a few feet to the next ledge. She followed him, reaching out and grasping his shoulder once when her foot slipped.

"Okay?" he mouthed as he looked over his shoulder.

"Yeah," she whispered. "It's slick."

He only nodded in response and waited for her to release his shoulder. When she was steady, he jumped down again, to the final area. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the camouflaged Miss M and Superboy next to her. _Miss M's camouflage doesn't do much good if you're going to stand out in the open, Superboy,_ Robin mused to himself.

Still, he also knew that KF and Aqualad were getting ready to enter at the east side, for him and Artemis to work their way west, and the other duo to head into the north entrance.

Robin stayed close to the treeline, as did Artemis. He pulled out a small gun and aimed it at the camera. A small electric bullet flew and landed right next to it, shorting out the device. He walked more quickly now and counted down the moments till he opened the door. Three..two….one…

He pulled it open and stepped inside, finding a dark corner to stand in. The long hallway that stretched before him showed him that they were in an area similar to an office. That meant that they were the pair most likely to retrieve the info.

Artemis came in right behind him, closing the door behind them. He stood and listened for just a brief moment, watching for any shadows as he tried to sense someone's presence.

Still nothing. He wanted to speak over the link with everyone, but he didn't want to interrupt them if they were in a tough position. Instead, he elected to continue forward, towards the office on the right. He tread quickly and lightly, shoving open the door and stepping inside. It was empty, save for a single computer.

"What is up with this?" Artemis muttered, looking around the room as Robin pulled out a connected and hooked up the desktop with his own tiny computer.

"No clue," he confessed quietly. "Batman said this place was taking care of a major shipment tonight. There's no way we missed it, but there's no one here, either."

"At least not in this part," she agreed. " _Aqualad, Robin and I are clear on the west side. Have you guys seen anything?"_

" _We are in a warehouse,"_ he responded. _"Shipments are in boxes and ready to go. It is a liquid pathogen, as we feared."_

" _There's some over on the north side too,"_ Superboy inserted. " _Same thing. Nobody guarding it and everything ready to go."_

" _Robin's hacking their computer right now to see what's up,"_ Artemis said for the sake of their team. " _We'll let you know when we have something."_

" _We'll keep searching,"_ KF broke in. " _Be careful."_

Robin may have been in the middle of hacking, but that didn't mean that he didn't hear Wally just then. That could have been a warning to both of them as a team, but Dick had a feeling it was more than that. Artemis and Wally hated each other at first, but now, they tended to gravitate towards one another in their free time. It almost seemed like they cared about each other. "So, you and Wally, huh?" Robin asked as he flipped through a few files on the digital monitor that hovered over his wrist.

"Me and _Wally_?" Artemis stuttered. "As if. He's so…" She trailed off, faining interest in the screen. Robin could have teased her more for it, but he was content just noting how hard it was for her to list off things she didn't like about Wally. That was all he needed to see her thoughts.

And anyway, the screen on front of him had some interesting info. "The potion is being financed by an unknown sponsor near Gotham," he said lowly. "Funds donated nearly three years ago for the development of this stuff."

"Does it say what it does yet?"

"Getting to it." He stared at the screen, wiping his brow as he tried to sift through the mounds of data. Most systems had some kind of organization, but this one was just piles of useless garbage. It wasn't even like there was a formula for the chemical, an engineer…anything.

"There's too much information," he said with a frown. "I can't sift through it all right now. I need more time to research it."

"We don't _have_ time," Artemis reminded him. "This shipment's going out tonight. And if we don't find a way to stop it, then…"

"Stop."

"Wha-?"

"SHH!" Robin placed a hand on her shoulder and forced her to kneel down behind the desk. That was when she knew that he wasn't just interrupting for the sake of interrupting; he sensed a threat. She followed his gaze to the open door. Although she couldn't hear anything, she steadily drew her bow and aimed carefully. She had expected Robin to do the same, but he continued staring at the monitor over his arm. While she was partly annoyed with him for not just spelling everything out, she trusted his judgment. His age did not discount the wisdom that he obtained through years of experience and discipline.

Robin tried to sift through the information, running his own virus on it to unshuffle the material. He realized now that the system had had a safeguard to keep anyone from milling through it aimlessly. It rearranged every bit of detail to make him sit here longer and go through it.

The question was, was that just a technique to keep the information well hidden, or was it meant to waste his time. What if this was purposefully set for them to lead them into a trap-?

He suddenly gasped, closing out of the computer. "Artemis," he started. The noise he had heard was ringing clearly in his ear now: not footsteps. Ticking. Steady, slow, ticking.

"What?" she whispered right back.

Instead of answering her directly, he communicated with the whole team. " _Everyone out, now!"_

" _Dude!"_ KF protested.

" _It's a trap!"_ Robin looked over at Artemis and motioned for her to put the bow away. "It's a bomb."

And with that, she got the full message. " _Bomb! Get as far away as you can!"_ she shouted across everyone's minds. She began to run towards the door with Robin right behind her. However, when she turned to go left, he turned to go right.

"Where are you going?!" she hollered.

"The data's incomplete! I need a sample if we're going to be able to analyze this and make a remedy."

"There's a _bomb,"_ she reiterated. "There's no time!"

"Go!" he ordered, shoving her shoulder to send her towards the door. He didn't even wait before he bolted towards the warehouse section of the building.

And while Artemis stood stunned, it was only for half a second. Robin wasn't the leader of the team, and even if he was, she wasn't going to leave him alone in a building that was rigged to blow. She darted after him to the end of the hallway, shoving the door open in time to see him run over to a crate and open it with a birdarang.

" _We're clear,"_ Miss Martian said over telepathic communication. " _Aqualad?"_

" _We are also clear,"_ he reported. " _Robin? Artemis?"_

" _Robin's stubborn!"_ she reported angrily. " _He's getting a sample."_

" _Robin, evacuate. That is an order!"_ Aqualad said.

" _I got it!"_ Robin said, pocketing a tiny class vial in his belt. He looked over to Artemis and nodded, starting to run towards the door. She ran just as quickly as she did, especially when she saw a flashing red light out of the corner of her eye. The bomb was, of course, sitting in the corner of the room that was nearest the door.

"Robin!" she shouted, pointing at the device that was flashing more quickly now. He acknowledged her and reached into his belt. His grapple was in his hand and ready to go. When she was right beside him, he grabbed hold of her waist and shot the grapple up towards one of the rafters on the southern wall. There was a large window up there that they could escape through. It was as far away from the bomb as they could get at that moment. Artemis grabbed hold of him and felt the tug of the line rocket them towards that side of the building.

But then she felt heat wash over her, and a shockwave rock her very soul. Without looking over her shoulder, she knew that the bomb _just_ detonated. She squeezed Robin harder and bit back a cry of fear, seeing the window just ahead. "Come on!" she shouted at no one and nothing in particular. _So close…SO close…_

Robin's grappling hood had stuck right into the concrete wall above the window. The bomb detonating sent waves through the entire building, making walls creak and crack wherever they were weak. And, because of Robin's hook, that portion of the wall was weak. Neither of them had the time to calculate that the wall was falling apart, and all of a sudden, the 3-foot chunk that the hook had been in started to fall.

And they fell along with it.

*…*…*…*…*…*

Outside the warehouse, the other four members of the team stared in horror as the fire overtook the building. Wally thought that one of them shouted for Robin and for Artemis, but he couldn't recognize the horrified voice. Maybe it was his own.

He lifted his arms to shield his face from the light and heat, not noticing any rubble coming in their general direction. They made it far enough away that they were safe, but their friends…

"… _I don't sense Robin and Artemis in the telepathic communication,"_ Miss Martian voiced after the initial horror halted and the building stood mostly steady.

Rob and Artemis being disconnected could mean two things; either they were unconscious, or they were dead.

Wally raced towards the building, hearing Aqualad shout after him. However, he also heard Superboy launch himself from the hill they were on and jump down to the building. Kaldur and M'gann stayed behind. They were both weak to fire, so they wouldn't be able to do anything to help any of them. If he and Conner failed with this, then four members of the team would be dead.

Conner landed at the door right before him and shoved his shoulder through it, stumbling inside into the fire. Wally didn't lose any momentum with the door and skidded to a halt right in the middle of the room. What he saw was horrifying; the bomb was obviously in the southwest corner, and when it hit, it seriously compromised the interior of the building. All the crates that had the drug in them were on fire as well, conduits for the rest of the building to catch and eventually crash down.

 _I know Dick,_ Wally thought to himself. _He'd see the bomb. He'd get as far away from it as possible, which means…_ He looked over to the opposite wall, seeing part of the wall collapsed and a long line of metal rope spread across the floor. His eyes darted over the line and he followed it to the source: the boy and girl lying underneath one of the fallen rafters.

"Superboy!" Wally shouted, darting over to the two. He grabbed hold of the rafter and tried to lift it, only for it to creak slightly and remain stationary. He wasn't strong enough to save them by himself!

Of course, Conner immediately recognized what was wrong and hurried over. Robin was lying underneath Artemis, one of his hands seemingly resting on the small of her back. When they were falling, he had obviously kept her on top of him and used his body to break the fall. His tiny, fragile, body.

Superboy lifted the rafters and yelled at Wally to get his attention. "Grab 'em!" KF immediately reached in and pulled both of them out at once, releasing them from the rafters that had kept them trapped before. His instinct was to scream at them, to ask them if they were okay. But their closed eyes and labored breathing told him that they were far from okay.

KF reached down and picked up the person closest to him: Robin. After placing the rafters back on the ground and hearing the ominous groaning of the building, Conner grabbed Artemis. "Careful!" Wally snapped, looking at the unconscious archer.

"I know! Go!"

Wally could have sped out, and he probably should have, but he ran at a more regular pace so that he and Conner were together. If he saw anything coming, he'd be able to react faster to knock Conner and Artemis out of the way. Never mind that if the building collapsed on them, the four of them would _all_ die.

Fortunately, for once, nothing went wrong. He and Conner and their unconscious comrades made it out of the building and back up the hill to M'gann and Kaldur before anything bad happened. In fact, it was only after they boarded the bioship ten minutes later that they saw another fireball completely overtake the building and the witnessed the structure fall.

Well, at least four of them witnessed it from the sky. The other two were lying in the med bay, unconscious and unaware of how worried their teammates were.

*…*…*…*…*…*

 **Author: I put the author's note here at the end, because let's face it-no one ever seems to read them at the start of the chapter. I've been a fan of Young Justice for only about a year, and I just can't get enough of it—especially not enough of my favorite character, Robin. So, I've been working on this story for months and decided it's finally time to start releasing chapters. I have 9 chapters done (over half my planned story), so that means I'll be posting it very regularly while I keep writing the remaining chapter. The story doesn't have a beta reader, since I'm always too eager to just post the chapters.**

 **And now to get to your questions (if anyone is still reading this far): When's the next chapter going to be posted? The answer is, a few days, possibly. I want to stay as far ahead as possible so that we don't have any extended periods of no chapters being posted. If you want chapters to be posted faster, be sure to leave reviews—those always inspire me to write more.**

 **Anddddd that's the end of my author note. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and look forward to the next one!**

 **Peanut**


	2. Chapter 2: Shame

Chapter Two: Shame

When they arrived at the cave, Batman was already there. No one was quite sure why he was there, since they didn't radio ahead and tell him about Robin and how he was hurt. It's true that they were out of contact for a long time, so perhaps that was what called him to the cave. Either way, he wasn't happy when Wally walked out of the bioship with Robin right by his side. He was conscious, and had been for bits and pieces of the long flight home, but he was so unsteady on his feet and in so much pain that he was leaning on Wally for support.

As soon as Dick saw Batman waiting for them, he gave a momentary pause. Kaldur glanced over at him and saw the expression of shame. _Robin, you do not need to feel shame,_ he thought, aware that Robin would be unable to hear that message with M'gann's telepathic link offline. It was obvious that Robin didn't want Batman to see him while he was weak and injured.

"Batman," Kaldur began, stepping towards the man to try and save Robin from his prying stare. "I would like to report on the mission."

As if snapping out of a daze, Batman looked over at the young man who stood in front of him. By that point, Kid Flash and Robin were past them, heading to the medic bay. Artemis was several steps behind with M'gann by her side. She was not as wounded, but still required attention.

"Alright," Batman said after a few moments. "Report."

As Kaldur ran through his report, he saw Batman's frown deepen. He wasn't sure whether it was because Kaldur somehow failed at leading the team, or if Robin's stubbornness had gotten him into trouble yet again.

The moment the report was done, Batman silently stalked back to where Robin was being evaluated by their automated medical AI. The facts were in: one rib fractured, four others bruised. He also suffered from smoke inhalation. Artemis was better, with one bruised rib and smoke inhalation. The only reason she was able to get away with such minor injuries was because Robin shielded her when they were falling. And the only reason Robin got away with _his_ injuries was because of his bullet-proof vest making the impact less severe.

Batman didn't even have to look at the rest of the team to tell them that their presence was no longer welcome. They all trickled out and closed the door. Artemis stayed in the room, lying in a bed on the other side of the drawn curtain. Even if Batman was aware of that, he didn't convey it.

"Aqualad said that you stayed inside to retrieve samples of the drug," he said after a moment.

"Yeah," Robin nodded.

"Do you have it?"

"Yeah," he said again. He reached into for his belt and pulled out a vial of blue liquid. It was completely intact thanks to the strength of the belt. He winced as he handed the vial to his mentor. Batman lifted it and looked at it with the light behind it. Of course, nothing stood out with this weird drug.

"I expect to hear your report tomorrow," Batman said as he put the vial in his own belt. He turned and walked out, closing the door behind him.

"…Harsh," Artemis said from the other side. She reached over and pulled the curtain, revealing herself and seeing Robin's facial expression. Honestly, he didn't seem too amazed by it.

"It's okay," he said quietly. "That's how he acts when he's worried."

"He acts like a total jack-"

"And anyway, I gave him the right to," Robin interrupted. "I risked your life and I shouldn't have."

"You didn't risk my life, _I_ did," she corrected. What she would always remember, though, was how he landed on the ground so she wouldn't have to face the concrete. Her armor wasn't as thick as his; if she had landed, it would have put her out of commission for months. Or permanently. And Robin…he was lucky too. Unbelievably so. "But it doesn't matter. We're alive, and we have the intel and the drug. Soon we'll know what this was all about."

Robin leaned back into the pillows more, closing his eyes. "Hope so," he said quietly. With that soft spoken answer, Artemis noticed that Robin had pain pills and water next to his bed. He had obviously taken the drug and it was now influencing him. Most medicines took longer to take effect, but the league could afford the best.

Within minutes, Robin was out cold, and Artemis was alone with her feelings of guilt and shame.

*…*…*…*…*…*

The world kept spinning, and so did the rest of the team. That week as Artemis and Robin were forced to bedrest, the rest of them trained against each other. Those matches were more passionate than usual. Every one of them had reason to feel frustrated with themselves.

Kaldur, leader of the team, had been closest to the vials in the first place. If he had grabbed one, Robin wouldn't have stayed behind and gotten one.

M'gann told herself that she should have done something. She had no clue what that something was, but it kept nagging her mind. She should have done something. She should have done _something…_

Conner was always upset when his friends were hurt. Robin in particular. He was such a small, human kid that put up such a strong front that he seemed invincible. He didn't like seeing him walking around in pain.

And Wally…he was the worst. Black Canary offered therapy to him and he turned it down. Talking about it wouldn't help. His best friend and the girl he had a mega crush on were almost _crushed_ by a building. Even if he didn't blame himself for anything, he hated that he couldn't make the two of them better.

That was why in his current match against Kaldur, he easily grabbed Khadlur by the arm and flipped him onto his back with vigor and viciousness he didn't normally show to his teammates. Kaldur looked up at him and grunted, only slightly surprised. They all knew that the Kid Flash they were working with the past week wasn't the same as he was before the incident.

Off on the sidelines, Robin sat, sipping some water and watching the match in his street clothes (and sunglasses, obviously). "Nice down, KF," he shouted to his friend.

 _No. No, it really wasn't,_ Wally thought to himself. He shook his head and released Kaldur, though he still held out a hand to help him up. He wanted to apologize, but the words simply wouldn't come. Fortunately for him, Kaldur understood, accepted his hand, and gave him a nod. Once he was on his feet, Wally walked over to Dick and sat down next to him.

"Shouldn't you be at a tutoring session or something?" Wally asked casually, grasping for the waterbottle he had next to him.

"It's Saturday," he reminded him.

"Yeah…and you've missed school all week, so…"

"So, I'm milking this for all it's worth," Dick said lightly. "I don't have to go back to school till Monday, so I'm not going to worry about schoolwork till then."

"How's the big guy feel about that?" Even though Wally knew that Bruce Wayne was both Dick's adoptive father and Batman, he avoided using the name. The last thing he wanted was Batman's vengeance for accidentally revealing his name to the crew.

"I'm here, aren't I?"

Wally took that as, "Bruce wants me to study but can't force me to." He looked ahead of him, seeing the training room completely empty except for the two of them. "Are things still…?"

"Weird? Yeah."

The redhead nodded silently. Dick was his best friend, so of course he told him about how Bruce basically grabbed the vial and ran after this mission. The next day, Dick gave his mission report and Bruce didn't scold him or anything. He didn't do anything that conveyed emotion at all. It was only when Dick asked if he had any progress in identifying the liquid that Bruce retracted and almost yelled at Dick. He told him not to worry about it, which of course encouraged Dick to spend all his spare time researching the files he snagged at the warehouse.

Ever since then, though, there was some tension between the two of them. Bruce was hiding something, and Dick had no way of finding out what the deal was. That and being forced to sit still was seriously testing Dick's patience.

" _Recognize. Miss-Martian-B-5."_

The teleporter to their left glowed a bright white light as the voice made them aware of a new guest. M'gann walked in donning her street clothes and carrying a large tray. As soon as she saw the two of them, she ran over to them. "Hey!" she greeted warmly. "I bought cookies."

"Amazing!" Wally shouted, he jumped to his feet just as soon as M'gann reached them and snagged five right off the plate. "What happened to baking, though?"

"The oven's broken," she said. "Tornado's looking at it right now."

"Um…does Tornado know _anything_ about kitchen appliances?"

"Not that I was seeing. The last I saw, he was trying to figure out how to turn the light on."

Wally and M'gann both laughed, probably more than the situation called for. By that time, Dick was on his feet.

"How are you feeling, Robin?" M'gann asked, just like she always did the moment she saw him.

"Great," he responded. "Ready for action."

"I wouldn't say that," a new voice input. Conner, Kaldur, and Artemis were walking over to them to join the conversation. It was Kaldur who had spoken the comment, and it was he who elaborated on it as they made their way closer. "Batman told me that you're not allowed to go on a mission for the next month."

Wally spit out the cookie he was chewing on, the mush making a lovely pile on the ground. While Artemis groaned in disgust, Wally looked over at his best friend. "Dude, a _month_?! You didn't tell me that."

"I'll easily cut that time in half," Robin said confidently. "I've always healed quicker than Batman thinks."

"In any case, Batman will make the final decision," Kaldur said. "That is how he has always done things."

 _Yeah, well Batman's not quite acting like his usual self on this one,_ Robin thought glumly. "Did he tell you guys anything about the pathogen?"

"No. I assume he's still researching it."

Robin knew that nothing took Batman that long; it had been a week, and he'd been hanging out in the Batcave ever since he got the thing. He knew what it was, but he was keeping it a secret from the team. Why?

" _Recognize. Batman. Zero-two."_

The caped Crusader walked in alone, reporting directly to the computers. It was only after he was stationed in front of them that he spoke. "Team. Report for mission."

All six of them walked over and stood in front of the screens as Batman pulled up a map of a specific region in Idaho. "Numerous reports say that a Cadmus shuttle crash-landed in a field two days ago. The Justice League has been keeping surveillance over the area, but nobody has come to claim the wreckage yet. Your task is to scope out the area, and if clear, sort through whatever the cargo was. Aqualad, you'll have a list of specific items to look for. If it's not on that list, leave it."

"Understood."

"Suit up and leave immediately. The search will take all night. Be gone before dawn hits."

Robin saw Aqualad glance over at him, but he met his gaze and shrugged at him. Batman just gave _all_ of them the mission report, Robin included. That meant that he was allowed to go on this mission.

Of course, Kaldur always strived to be on good terms with Batman, so he began to speak. "Batman-"

"You may take Artemis if she feels ready for the mission. Robin stays behind."

" _What?"_ Robin cried in surprise. "Batman, come on, I…"

With one look, Batman made him fall silent. Just as quickly, he shifted his vision to the archer. "Artemis, are you ready for the mission?"

"Yeah, I'm good to go," she confirmed.

"Wait," Robin interrupted. "What about last week? What about the pathogen?"

"This is not an appropriate time to bring that up, Robin," Batman said coolly. "I've just assigned a mission that everyone should now be preparing for."

The rest of the team got the hint and dispersed, rushing away to their respective rooms to get changed or just avoid the conversation. It was so unusual to see Robin lash out at Batman like that, and it made all of them uncomfortable to see that kind of immature behavior from Robin. Yes, he was a child and he could be a goofball, but when it came to Batman, he was beyond respectful. Seeing anything different was alarming.

Robin didn't even wait for everyone to leave the room before he spoke to his mentor again. "Something panned out with that pathogen, didn't it?" he pressed. "What is it?"

"I'm still researching."

"For a whole week?"

"Yes. Is there anything else?" The mask amplified the expression that he saw so much when he was still in training: The expression that dared him to press back further. And he knew from experience that the moment he pressed, he'd be sorry he did.

"…No," Robin sighed. He ran a hand over his hair and turned, heading towards the teleporter.

"Where are you going?"

"Home. I'm benched for a month, right?"

"Yes."

" _Recognize. Robin. B-Zero-One."_

The light engulfed him, and he was gone, back to Gotham. The rest of the team would wonder where he went, but it didn't matter. He had a goal in mind, and he was going to complete it before Batman found out.

He was going to break into the Batcave's archives and discover what it was Batman was keeping from him.

*…*…*…*…*…*

 **Author: Thanks for reading! In this section, I'll respond to people and ramble about updates and such.**

 **Canoyessenia555: There will be some Wally/Artemis, but aside from that, I don't have anything planned.**

 **Girlgeekjf, Guest, and call-know-it-all, thanks for reading and dropping reviews! Hope you all will continue to provide your feedback.**

 **And to the rest of you people who just subscribed without reviewing, welcome! I'd love to hear your thoughts too, but I'm at least glad that you're watching the story.**

 **The next chapter may be late (like 2.5 weeks away) due to real world obligations and lack of internet access. Just a heads up.**

 **Peanut**


	3. Chapter 3: Snoop

Chapter Three: Snoop

One thing Robin was thankful for in the midst of all this was that Batman really wasn't hanging out around the house too much. He was keeping himself busy with league missions and whatever else. That came in handy for Robin when he searched the computer the previous night and found a possible connection with Scarecrow and the drug. Now, it was handy because he was doing yet another thing he wasn't supposed to be doing: exercising.

There was a room that had a ton of acrobatic equipment just for him. He had no shortage of places to train: the batcave, Mount Justice, an actual gym…this one was just the most comfortable for him. He was Dick Grayson, an acrobat. Like his parents before him.

He wished he could swing around and work his upper body muscles, but doing that with bruised ribs was stupid. Instead, he found a balancing beam to work on. It was about fifteen feet above the ground with mats placed beneath it for safety. He climbed the ladder to ascend to the beam itself, wincing at the pain that caused by itself. Yeah, he definitely couldn't get away with any upper-body exercise.

He set one foot on the narrow beam, and then his left followed. This was such a boring exercise, but he never neglected it. Having a good sense of balance and being able to shift your weight at a moment's notice was important. This training got him out of a few sticky situations in combat.

Right foot moved directly in front of the left. His bare feet stuck well to the wooden beam and gave him as much stability as his shoes did.

Left moved up. The toes of his right foot tapped against the heel of his left foot. Typical, boring exercise.

What he wanted was real experience, not this. Important as it was, Scarecrow was probably manufacturing more drugs with every step he took. Never mind that Scarecrow had been locked up in Arkham for the past two years. Something was absolutely happening while he took each step forward and maintained his balance. And Batman wasn't doing a single thing about it. Now, Dick had to admit that the data he saw was inconclusive. Bruce wasn't 100% confident in anything yet, so he was doing more research. But he had enough info as far as Dick was concerned.

The potion was connected to Scarecrow somehow.

Scarecrow was in Arkham. Perfect place to go ask some questions.

On the white wall straight ahead of him, he picked a spot and focused on it. He had never noticed it before, but it was just a random spot that had cracks spouting out from it in every direction. There was nothing suspicious about it, and he was sure that it had been there much longer than he had been using the gym. What bothered him was that it looked familiar to him, like-

Like a grappling hook plunged into the wall, didn't stick, and caused its user to topple to the ground.

That stuck a very sour note for him. He couldn't help but flashback to when he and Artemis were escaping from that warehouse and they fell.

All of a sudden, the balancing beam seemed rather high off the ground.

 _Stop, that's absurd!_ Dick scolded himself. There was panic rising up in his heart. It was coming up to a degree that he didn't even feel in the middle of some of his harshest battles. His eyes wandered down towards the ground, and he saw the blue mats beneath him.

His right foot moved up to reset his balance, but he moved it too far forward and placed it half off the beam. He was fully aware of what was happening, and he knew what the wisest course of action was: Not to fight back, and to take the fall.

He shifted his body enough so that when he hit the ground just a moment later, he landed flat on his back, not on his face. If he had reached for the beam when he fell, he would have reinjured his ribs even more and Bruce would have locked the room up completely.

But, as he lay there on the hard blue mat, he realized the alternative wasn't that great either. Landing on his back was the same way he landed with Artemis, so it was the same bones being jarred against the ground.

Dick squeezed his eyes shut and hissed in pain. Why did he even fall?! He walked on that beam a hundred times and free fell from skyscrapers before. It was so _stupid_ to fall from such a small height. What was even more stupid was what he felt before he fell: Fear. Real, genuine, fear.

"Dude!" a slightly alarmed call came from the doorway.

He released a breath and turned his head, seeing Wally jogging over towards him in street clothes. Ugh, great. Of course Wally would come in right this second.

"You okay?" his best friend asked as he knelt down beside him.

"Fine," Dick lied. "Tired. How was the mission?"

Wally clearly wasn't sure whether he should have allowed the diversion or not, but he did give in after a few moments of hesitation. "A bust," he said. "By the time we got there, Cadmus got there and cleared out the ship."

"Any fingerprints on the dashboard? DNA?"

"…We didn't look."

Dick groaned in both pain and frustration. "Seriously?"

"The mission was to grab their tech, not ID who was flying the plane."

"I would have grabbed some DNA if I was allowed on the mission," Robin mumbled.

"Well, you're benched, for more reason than one I take it," Wally said, turning more serious than he already was. "You just hurt yourself worse, didn't you?"

"Fell off the beam," Dick confessed. "Just lost my breath for a minute."

"Landing on bruised ribs isn't good, man…"

 _Yeah, I know,_ he wanted to snap. Instead, he sat himself upright and faced his friend. "Any other updates from the team?"

"No. Any changes with Bruce? Did that fight yesterday change anything?"

"Nope. After that though, I snuck into the Batcave."

The speedster's voice rose ten levels."You did wh-?"

"Wally!" he interrupted. "You don't have to shout it!"

"Okay. Okay," he breathed. "But dude, that's serious."

"I found something though. That stuff was funded by Scarecrow. Maybe."

"What do you mean 'maybe?'"

"Batman himself wasn't sure. But it's enough of a connection. I want to go to Arkham and talk to him."

"Uh-uh. No way. That would totally ruin your relationship with Bruce. If he found out you snooped through his files—"

"I'm a smart kid," Dick said smoothly. "He'll assume I pieced it together on my own."

"You going out in your condition though…"

"Are you going to help me or not?" Robin finally asked. He was going whether Wally approved of it or not, so if he was that concerned, he could tag along and keep an eye out for him. Really, Wally should have known the motto of Young Justice by now. _Get on board, or get out of the way._

Wally knew the sentiment well enough. But even more than that, he knew Dick. He sighed, running a hand over his orange hair in frustration. "Fine," he said. "But you never fade into the shadows, okay? I'm with you all the way."

"You got it." Robin reached up and grasped Wally's in their typical version of a handshake—hands up in front of them just in a tight clasp. Whatever animosity or frustration they had with each other disappeared as they focused on their new, self-assigned, mission: getting an audience with Scarecrow before Batman found out.

*…*…*…*…*…*

 **Author: I'm back! It was a short chapter, but that's necessary sometimes. The next chapter will come soonish (within a week or two). Please drop a review when you get the chance, because it's super encouraging and motivates me to write quicker. Thanks to Lexosaurus and AmaraRae for leaving a review for the last one!**

 **Peanut**


	4. Chapter 4: Pride

Chapter Four: Pride

Gotham may have been a large city, but Robin knew every nook and cranny of it. It was nighttime as he and Wally (both dressed in their costumes) walked on one of the deserted sidewalks, and the sky above seemed to have a reddish tint, as per the usual. Gotham was a dark place in many senses, so the atypical sky fit in with that atmosphere.

When Robin and Kid Flash first reached the city, KF tried to talk him out of it again. But after one attempt, he stopped. He knew better than to press the issue, and he wanted answers just as much as Robin did. They even made small talk about it, with Wally asking if Rob had any more answers to their questions. What was the chemical compound they found? Was it a drug that was administered through the veins, drank, or breathed in?

Dick answered that it was the same kind of compound Scarecrow used for his fear gas, and honestly, it was his guess that the stuff was supposed to be used with a needle. If it was a mixture transferred through vapor, it didn't need to be packaged in such tiny, sellable vials.

"Still fishy, how they blew up all the stock. What was that all about?" Wally asked as the two of them crossed the street.

"Honestly? No clue. That's what I want to bring up when I see-"

"See who, bird boy?" a fresh voice asked from a darkened alley. Robin and KF both turned and got into battle positions, recognizing the voice and the figure that walked out of the alley.

"Sportsmaster," KF growled. "If you picked a new city to harass, this is a really bad choice. You know, Batman and Robin, the dynamic duo. I hear they've got a nice prison you'd fit into."

"Arkham's not really the place for me," he disagreed. "But weren't you two on your way there?"

Now the team had had plenty of talk about moles and information leaks, but they went down that road enough that they weren't taking it now. There was no mole, and Sportsmaster figured out their destination through pure deduction. It wasn't a hard guess since the two of them were walking in that direction, and there was no other reason to be in this part of the city.

"Yeah," KF agreed. "We were. Why don't you come with us, and we'll make sure you get settled in okay?"

"Thanks, but no." Sportsmaster pulled out a gun and aimed, shooting a bullet at Wally. Of course Wally dodged it and ran on ahead, grabbing Sportmaster's arm and forcing him to drop the gun.

"Robin, go!" Kid Flash shouted as he wrestled with Sportsmaster. Robin blinked in surprise, a sudden realization coming to him: Yes, Wally often did antagonize his enemies before getting into a fight in order to unnerve them, but he had been doing it for another purpose too. He had been stalling for Robin to get away. They both knew he wasn't at a level where he could fight Sportsmaster with bruised and fractured ribs.

Dick may have been stubborn, but he was also intelligent. He knew Wally was 100% right. "You better get him, KF," Robin called as he took a few steps back. Even when Sportsmaster tossed Wally aside, his teenage friend was back on his feet and charging into the battle.

"Duh!" he called back.

Robin smiled a bittersweet smile. Leave it to KF to make a battle with Sportsmaster seem light. He backed up further and reached into his belt for his grapple. He held it tightly in his hand and pointed it upwards toward a building. It was his mistake to look back at the fight with Wally and Sportsmaster and see another figure creep out of the darkness.

 _You gotta be kidding me. Scarecrow?!_

Scarecrow was certainly a terrifying figure to behold. He was dressed in a dark black jacket with a gray shirt underneath. The gray of his shirt was only slighter darker than that unnatural gray skin he wore. The large black cap that he always wore didn't hide his shriveled face or the beedy white eyes that peered out from underneath it.

As if this face wasn't frightening enough, he wore a noose around his neck. He looked like death had already taken him, only to return him to collect more souls. That was essentially what Scarecrow did every time he created a new drug. He was most famous for his fear gasses that caused masses to hallucinate. They would panic so much in the fearful hallucinations that their hearts would give out and they would die.

This was who stood at the end of the alley now. While KF and Sportsmaster's battle moved closer to the intersection, Robin was left staring into those white eyes.

"Robin, go! What are you waiting for?!" Kid Flash called as soon as he had a moment's breath.

That helped Robin snap out of his daze, but when he saw Sportsmaster get a wicked hit on KF, he decided he wasn't going to run away. Wally didn't stand a chance by himself.

As Robin began to replace his grapple with a birdarang, he heard yet another new voice.

"Robin!"

There, from up above him, he noticed the sky wasn't normal. Even in camouflage mode, Robin recognized Miss Martian's bioship. The bottom opened up and Artemis was coming down on a line. She had been the one who called to him in the first place, and as soon as she was down on the ground, her arm was around his waist.

" _M'gann, up!"_ Artemis telepathically called the moment she had Robin.

"Artemis, wait!" Robin interrupted. He pointed over to the alley at Scarecrow, who was just glaring at them. "KF can't handle—"

Artemis took it in stride, but she and Robin were already being pulled upward. "The whole team's here," she said.

She didn't have to say that, because as soon as they were up in the bioship, he saw the rest of them: M'gann at the pilot's seat, Superboy and Kaldur right next to them by the hole. Superboy grabbed Artemis and helped her in, while Kaldur grabbed Robin's arm and pulled him into the ship. His torso ached with the force, but he didn't say anything.

"Help Wally!" Artemis said to both boys. The instant Robin and Artemis were stable, the two of them jumped down through that same hole and joined the battle. Robin watched in dismay as the two of them both went to help Kid Flash, and neither one noticed Scarecrow hiding in the shadows.

" _Scarecrow's at your six, Kaldur!"_ Robin communicated via mental link.

" _I'm on it."_

"I gotta get back down there," Robin said to Artemis and M'gann. "No one knows Scarecrow like I do. He could gas Kaldur!"

"Kaldur's read the profile," M'gann stated, her voice laced with concern for Robin instead of the team leader. "He'll be fine."

"And _you're_ benched. I'll go," Artemis offered.

She was about to jump back down, but all of a sudden, a small area was covered with white smoke. Robin peeked through the hole as well. "Scarecrow?" he breathed in fear.

"No," Artemis said, though she was tense for a whole different reason. "Sportsmaster."

Within seconds, Wally dissipated the smoke by spinning his arms rapidly in small circles. Of course, Sportsmaster had already taken that opportunity to escape. Even with their height in the bioship, Robin couldn't see any sign of where Sportsmaster disappeared to. And then in the alley, Kaldur reappeared by himself.

" _Sportsmaster got away,"_ Superboy said in disappointment.

" _Scarecrow also eluded me before I saw him. He must have fled almost immediately."_

All of them felt the wave of disappointment wash over them. Even though they were all mentally linked, they were all silent as Kaldur, Conner, and Wally were successfully lifted into the bioship. There were so many questions now. Like, how was Sportsmaster roped up in this? He obviously was, since he appeared with Scarecrow. And how did Scarecrow get out of Arkham. Or…

"… _How did you guys know where to find us?"_ Robin asked after everyone was in their seat. He didn't even dare ask the question out loud, because he knew he wasn't going to like the answer.

" _Batman sent us to find you,"_ M'gann answered softly. " _He told us to bring you home."_

Wally and Dick shared a look then, and while Wally had every right to say "I told you so," his look conveyed nothing but sympathy. He warned Dick that Batman would be onto them, and he was right. Now it was just time to go see how badly this damaged their relationship.

*…*…*…*…*…*

The flight back was silent. If there was a mental conversation going on, Robin wasn't part of it. He sat in his seat and stared out the window at the cities and towns they flew over. The questions of Scarecrow and Sportsmaster ran through his mind, but more than that, he thought of Batman—Bruce, his guardian. His father figure. He totally betrayed his trust and went behind his back. He disobeyed his orders and he had nothing to show for it at all. Bruce could be pretty forgiving, but he had a feeling he was pushing it with this one.

Flying passed in both hours and minutes, consumed by worry. Even when they landed at the cave and everyone else began to take off their seatbelts, he stayed seated. Out the window, he saw Batman waiting for them.

He couldn't wait any longer. He stood up and exited the ship, the last of the group to do so.

"…was right to be suspicious," Kaldur was saying to Batman. "Both Scarecrow and Sportsmaster were in Gotham. We do not know the purpose, though. They both fled before we could question them."

 _Good old Kaldur, trying to stand up for me,_ Dick thought as he eyed the pair. The rest of his team walked right past them, and Robin prepared to as well, but as he went to walk past Batman, his mentor lifted a hand and set it on his shoulder. He didn't even break conversation with Kaldur as he did that action. "Anything else?" Batman asked.

Kaldur tried to think of something to help Robin more, but he had nothing at all. "The team performed well."

"Thank you. Dismissed."

Aqualad gave Robin a look—one that seemed a tad disappointed but mostly sympathetic. He didn't even know how Robin acquired his information. He guessed it was obvious enough to the whole team that he did something he wasn't supposed to do, and now Batman was going to discipline him for it. Honestly, he deserved it. That was why even after the room was empty, Dick couldn't lift his eyes up and look at his mentor.

Batman kept his hand on Robin's shoulder as if to make sure he wasn't going to run away. "How did you deduct Scarecrow was connected to the pathogen?"

There was no point lying; Batman knew and was just giving him an opportunity to tell the truth. "…I snuck into the Batcave last night and checked your research."

"My _inconclusive_ research," Batman emphasized. "I knew Scarecrow was involved and that he was in Gotham, but I was still trying to find out who his associates were. You saw that too, didn't you?"

"…No." Robin looked up, trying to convey how honest he was actually being. "I saw that it was Scarecrow, and I saw the chemical compounds mixed for the potion. Aside from that, I guess I just…ignored everything else." That was the worst thing he could have done, considering how it put both him and Wally in danger tonight.

Fortunately, Batman wasn't angry—just logical. "There were no other signs of that compound being released in the near future. With no immediately threat looming, it was best to gather as much data as possible and target our enemies when we were fully aware of their strategies and plans."

Of course that made the most sense. Batman was a detective; he always did his research before committing to a battle. Robin knew it all along, and yet he ran on ahead.

"This behavior is unlike you…Dick," Bruce said quietly.

"I'm sorry," he finally said, his voice soft and filled with shame. "I just…" Just what? He couldn't quite figure it out himself, now that he thought about it.

"Your body wasn't the only thing wounded in that fight," Batman stated. "So was your pride."

 _Pride is a beast,_ Robin thought, recalling a proverb Bruce told him repeatedly as he started donning the cape. _It's a beast you think you tame and take into battle with you, then it turns and attacks you. It always goes for the kill._ It was scary just how right he was.

"I think I understand why you weren't telling me anything now," Robin said as he glanced down towards the ground and then back up at Batman. "You knew I'd jump into action too early if I had that information."

"That's right," Batman nodded.

"I must have disappointed you, then—I jumped in anyway."

"Undoubtedly your frustrations with me played into that decision. We are both responsible for tonight."

Dick looked up at Bruce in surprise and admiration. Not many people knew Bruce the way that he did: he was a stern leader who had high expectations and expected everyone to make rational decisions, but he was also a kind teacher who was very willing to accept that many—no, most lessons were learned from failure and not success.

Both of them learned a lesson tonight: Secrets were dangerous, especially between the two of them.

"Next time, I'll put my trust in you," Batman said. "I hope that you'll put your trust in me, and you'll trust your team."

"I will," Robin promised. He didn't bother saying "thanks;" Batman already knew what he was feeling. This was one of those many times where they didn't need words to communicate what they were feeling.

Batman nodded slightly and turned. The hand that had been on Robin's shoulder fell to his side, but as he turned with Robin to face the entrance to the cave, he set his other hand on his shoulder. He started forward into the cave and Robin stayed right by his side, feeling lighter than he had in a long time.

*…*…*…*…*…*

 **Author: So the story continues onward! I liked writing this one especially because I do like the portrayal of Batman in this series. I grew up on Batman the Animated Series and while I LOVE that series, I sometimes like YJ's Batman better because he's more willing to pass his wisdom onto the next generation and give them praise where praise is due.**

 **Thanks to Lexosaurus for jumping onto the story and leaving 2 reviews! Hope to hear more of your thoughts and theories in the future.**

 **Peanut**


	5. Chapter 5: Schooled

Chapter Five: Schooled

Dick cooled off considerably once he and Bruce were on good terms again. Any signs of rebellion quickly disappeared and frankly, so did his grouchy disposition. He was only able to hang out with his friends in the cave for one day before returning to school, but they could easily see a change in him.

School. That was where Dick was now. He had missed a week at the Gotham Academy due to being hurt, so this Monday school-day was his first coming back. Most students would be pretty overwhelmed coming back after suddenly missing a week, but he was just whelmed. He had been ahead on all the readings and homework anyway, so now he just needed to make up whatever tests and quizzes he missed while he was out.

His teachers weren't surprised by that, and they had the tests all ready for him. This wasn't the first time Dick suddenly missed school for an extended period, and it definitely wasn't going to be the last. Still, at least he came back after fully educating himself and he did everything in his power to stay caught up. Teachers had no clue why he was out all the time—probably his selfish guardian Bruce Wayne pulling him away on sudden business trips—but they appreciated how hard Dick worked to stay caught up.

Dick looked up from his math test and saw the clock. The lunch bell was going to ring in about two minutes. He was planning on just going to the cafeteria and buying something, even though he had the option of going off campus to any local places. The Gotham Academy was nice in that it gave the students an hour lunch break to eat food or make up work with teachers.

One reason he planned on eating in was so that he could take his lunch somewhere private and mull over a few questions. It had been less than 48 hours ago that he and the team confronted Sportsmaster and Scarecrow, and since then, they had more questions than answers. Since when were those two working together? For what purpose? And how did they know to ambush Robin and KF at that very instant?

Even in the middle of his test, Dick had a hard time combating those questions. His gaze had automatically wandered to the window as he thought through them. There were plenty of students already congregating outside to eat lunch and hang out with their best friends. The courtyard was a plain, grassy area with benches and a few scattered picnic tables hidden in the shade of the trees. Of course the school was very prestigious, so it also had a tan concrete fence surrounding the entire establishment. It was only because Dick was on the third floor of the building that he could see over that fence to the outside.

People sometimes walked by; that was nothing strange. But there was one blond figure who just stood there and stared at the school.

Robin saw him without the mask before in the research archives, so he instantly recognized the man dressed as a civilian. _Sportsmaster!_

The lunch bell rang, and the teacher suddenly gave Dick her full attention. "Did you finish the test?" she asked him.

There were still two questions left that he could have answered easily, but he closed the packet and passed it up to the teacher. "I got stuck on the last two," he said in the most sheepish voice he could muster. "I'll just stop now."

Mrs. Muller was surprised, but she accepted the test as Robin grabbed his bag and hurried out of the room.

 _Sportsmaster is here. Sportsmaster is scouting the Gotham Academy. Why here? Why now?_ Robin feared the worst as he instinctively navigated the hallways of the school. Did Sportsmaster know that he, Dick Grayson, was also Robin?

No. No, that was his ego getting the better of him. Sportsmaster was here for another reason: His daughter Artemis was a student here. He was here for her.

His thoughts had already guided him to the right spot: Artemis's locker. She didn't know him aside from being Dick Grayson—the kid who randomly took her picture on her first day of school and told her that they would "laugh about it someday."

It was just his luck that Artemis wasn't the only person at her locker; two other girls were standing there with her, chatting with her about a history test or something unimportant like that. They stopped as soon as they saw him approaching though: Dick Grayson, current heir to the Wayne dynasty, had a high rank in the social hierarchy, even if he was just a kid in most people's eyes.

"Artemis, hey," Dick greeted casually, giving a slight nod to the other girls in greeting too.

"Hey…Dick?" Artemis said, clearly guessing at his name.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Would you…like to go out to lunch with me?"

The two girls standing behind Artemis began to giggle in glee.

"Thanks, but I've got a test to study for, so-"

"Artemis!" brunette #1 scolded. She pulled Artemis close and spoke to her, saying words that Dick could hear due to his training. "That's Dick Grayson—Bruce Wayne's ward. If he takes an interest in you, you can't say no!"

"Agreed," whispered brunette #2. "You already spent hours studying for the test anyway! Go."

Artemis looked conflicted, which was what Dick expected. She wasn't really the type to just go out with random people. But she could tell that her friends weren't going to get off her back, so she agreed. "Okay…I guess."

While the two girls gushed, Dick nodded again and smiled as widely as he could. "Okay. Come with me to my locker and then we'll head out."

The two girls started up again, whispering more advice and encouragement to Artemis as Dick turned and walked ahead of them. His heart was racing purely due to the fact that at that very moment, he was essentially powerless. Dick Grayson couldn't face off against Sportsmaster, and neither could Artemis Crock. Any action taken as civilians would only compromise their identities and the walls that they'd worked so hard to build up.

At his locker, Dick exchanged his school backpack for another. Artemis lingered awkwardly but then followed him to the rear office. The two of them signed out for the lunch hour and exited the south doors. There was no sign of Sportsmaster. He was probably still in the front of the school. At least, Dick hoped he was there as opposed to where they were making their exit.

Artemis trailed behind him, unaware of the danger. She'd know soon enough. Dick was about to do something that Bruce told him never to do unless a situation like this one arose: He was going to reveal his identity.

The sheer weight of that choice added a slight tremble to his hand as he pulled out his cell phone and called Alfred, their butler and accomplice.

" _Good afternoon, Master Dick. How can I be of service?"_ Alfred asked from the other side of the line.

"Hey Alfred," Dick greeted, still acting casual for some stupid reason. "The new girl and I are heading over to Red Robin for lunch. I think I'll get some greens."

" _I see. I shall transfer the funds to your account immediately."_

"Thanks."

Dick hung up the phone, and with that, Artemis lost her last shred of patience. "Red Robin?" she asked with an arched brow. "There are none of those in this part of Gotham."

"Yeah," Dick nodded. He attempted to grab her wrist to lead her down an alley, but of course, she pulled back.

"What do you think you're doing?!" she growled.

He groaned at his pathetic attempts to keep his secret longer—and her secret too. He may have known who she was, but she didn't know that he knew. "Hold my backpack for a minute," he said, dropping it at her feet. She again began to voice her protests, but then she noticed him kneel down by the brick wall and pull out three particular bricks. What he pulled out then was a backpack containing her superhero uniform and a mini crossbow.

"How did you—" she began meekly.

"You're going to need it," he interrupted, handing the bag over to her. "And I'm going to need this." He lifted up the bag he had previously discarded, but he didn't open it immediately. Even if they were in an abandoned alley, he wasn't going to reveal his costume. "Process it as we walk." He slung his backpack over his shoulder and began towards the entrance of an abandoned building. He motioned her inside first, hearing her begin to verbally process everything.

"You're…Okay, I did not expect that one," she breathed as Dick closed the door behind her. "But, if you're revealing it to me now, that means-"

"Stay traught," Dick said, stepping into the dark as he changed into his suit. "I saw Sportsmaster scouting the Gotham Academy just before the lunch bell rang. There are two possibilities."

"He's here for me, isn't he?" Artemis asked as she too took a private place to get changed.

"That's one possibility. The other is that he and Scarecrow are about to unleash an attack on the school. It wouldn't be the first time the school was targeted for an act of terror."

"Well then we've got to warn them!"

"I'm sure Alfred has already put in an anonymous tip for a lockdown."

"Alfred…You told him we were going to Red Robin for lunch…?"

"It's a code." Robin clipped on his belt and stepped out, immediately using his tech to scan the surrounding perimeter for lifeforms. "You're the new girl, Red Robin—well, that means I'm changing, and greens is a reference to you suiting up. Alfred said he'd send the funds, which means Batman's on his way."

Artemis, fully clothed herself, stood in awe of Robin and the work he had already put in with keeping their identities a secret and alerting Batman. Robin was always an intelligent strategist, but in that moment, he was no longer a kid: he was a professional. Now, she had to act like one too. She took both of their original school clothing and hid it away. They'd come back for it later, after this business was taken care of. But at that moment, she had another realization—"You know about Sportsmaster being my dad."

"Detective," Robin reminded her with a grimace. "Trust me, I don't care about family backgrounds. You're not your dad."

"That's reassuring…but I still don't like that he found me at Gotham Academy."

"We can't help that right now. Right now, we need to go get him before he does anything to the school." Dick completed his scan and saw that the area around them was clean. That really did mean that he and Artemis made it here without being seen, and that their identities were still intact. He was still selfishly praying that Sportsmaster was there for Artemis and not him; if the bad guys found out Robin's identity, they also found out Batman's.

Robin opened the door and stepped out, motioning Artemis to follow him. Even if Robin wasn't the leader of the whole team, he often took charge in situations like this. Young or not, every person on that team knew that they could trust him and the wisdom he gained through his years of experience. Artemis was no different, so she followed close behind him. Her large bow didn't fit in her emergency bag, so she had a small, handheld crossbow to use with an arsenal of different arrows. Sportsmaster didn't stand a chance.

They worked their way through the alleys, noticing every crevice along the way. They didn't need to look so carefully though, because when they came out in front of the school, they saw Sportsmaster standing there in his battle attire. As soon as the school went on lockdown, that was his cue to get ready for a battle.

"It's you two?" he started to ask. "I thought I'd be fighting the bat."

"What are you doing here, Sportsmaster?" Artemis growled. She obviously wasn't about to play ball and taunt him; when it came to their school, both Artemis and Robin were deathly serious.

"I'm here on a business venture with my partner. I think you've met him."

"Scarecrow," Robin automatically filled in. "Where is he?"

"What, you don't know?" Sportsmaster laughed a terrible laugh. The whole tone of it conveyed that he knew some deep dark secret about where Scarecrow was—a secret that the team apparently should have figured out by now. "Well, it doesn't matter." He reached behind him and pulled a weapon off his back: a simple pole that was lethal in h is hands. "Come and play."

For once, Robin didn't give any attack order—instead, he just ran in for it. He unleashed a battle cry as he threw a punch at Sportsmaster, dodged a fist that came in at him, and then tried to knock Sportsmaster off his feet with a swift kick to the ankles. Unfortunately, Sportsmaster fought Robin often enough that he knew the tricks. He jumped over Robin's foot and then kneed Robin in the chest, sending him tumbling backwards.

Artemis shot off an arrow as soon as Robin was out of the way and watched in dismay as her father swatted it away with his pole. She loaded another one in and shot it off as she sprinted forward, jumping up to give Sportsmaster a firm kick in his chest. The hit landed, but the only reaction Sportsmaster had was to take a single step backward.

While he was in the middle of that step, she pulled an arrow out of her quiver and held it tightly in her hand. She stabbed it down into his foot—or rather, into the concrete sidewalk where his foot had been two seconds ago. For her own protection, she jumped backwards.

"Was that supposed to hit me?" Sportsmaster taunted.

"Nope."

The arrow that had previously been flashing red suddenly blew up. Her father's suddenly cry of pain was pleasing to her ears. Now if only she could see him through the cloud of smoke that the small explosion had created…

When it disappeared two seconds later, she saw Sportsmaster standing there with hardly a scratch on him. He had jumped back too, naturally.

Artemis glanced over to Robin, suddenly noticing that he was just now getting back on his feet. Sportsmaster may have kicked him back with some force, but Robin never stayed down that long. Then it occurred to her that he was still wounded from the explosion: He had bruised and fractured ribs to fight with.

Suddenly the fight didn't seem like such an even match. _Batman, hurry up!_

*…*…*…*…*…*

Aside from being Batman, Bruce Wayne was a billionaire and the owner of his family's company Wayne Industries. And when he wasn't fulfilling one of those roles, he was out in public acting like an airheaded playboy. In the past, people had suspected that Bruce Wayne was truly Batman because Batman obviously had access to wealth. It was because of his façade that people believed there was no connection between the two anymore.

At 12:18, Bruce was just leaving a meeting. The watch that he wore all the time told him that he missed a phone call from Alfred six minutes ago, and so he hurried back to the privacy of his office to return the call. It was probably nothing, but with their duties, Bruce always aired on the side of caution.

He pulled out his private cell phone and called his butler. Alfred answered after one ring. "Sir, do you have a moment?"

"Yes," Bruce responded. "I'm on my lunch break." In other words, in the privacy of his office. He and Alfred worked together often enough that they had subtle phrases that communicated deeper messages. When Dick came into the family, he learned the same kinds of techniques.

"So is Master Dick," Alfred said. "He gave me a phone call approximately ten minutes ago. He said that he and the new girl were going to Red Robin, and that he was probably going to get some greens."

Bruce stared out the window of his office, paling. They both knew what the code meant. Robin had to reveal his identity to Artemis. A threat of attack was imminent and they needed Batman immediately. And now Batman was late because of a business meeting. "Anything else, Alfred?"

"The Gotham Academy has been placed under lockdown, and Commissioner Gordon has surely been informed. He and his force will be there soon."

"Then I better head over too."

"Yes, sir."

Bruce put his phone into his pocket and phoned in a call to his secretary. As he had done a million times before, he phoned her and concisely told her that he would be going out for lunch and to take care of any issues that arose while he was gone. She didn't even bother asking when he would return; she may not have known his secret, but she knew that when he went out to lunch, he sometimes didn't return until the next day. She wished him a good lunch and then ended the call.

On the eastern wall of his office, Bruce had a private elevator that took him to a floor that nobody else knew existed. After travelling down twenty-three floors, he arrived in the basement where a batsuit and gadgets awaited him. A batcycle was here as well, and he would use the underground tunnel system to exit from a location that was more discreet than Wayne Industries.

After he was suited up and on the bike, he reprogrammed his com unit to match Robin's frequency. "Robin, what's your situation?" he asked as he sped more than 70 miles an hour through the tunnel.

Static was his response.

He tried not to analyze that fact too much. In the midst of the chaos, Robin probably forgot to change the frequency of his com unit to their standard one. The theory made sense…for anyone who wasn't Robin. Dick had had enough awareness to see danger, extract Artemis from the situation, and alert Alfred in a very specific code.

The second scenario was also unlikely though: Dick was unable to respond because of an injury. Whatever the threat was, perhaps it incapacitated him. Maybe the ten minute delay was enough to get Robin and Artemis in serious trouble.

As Batman sped towards the exit, he did something he rarely did: he prayed. For his son, he was willing to do anything.

That was certainly going to be put to the test in the next few weeks.

When he made it the front of the Gotham Academy 7.5 minutes later, it was quiet. The only person there was a young girl in a green uniform, lying unconscious in the street. He parked his cycle and ran over. Artemis had previously been lying face-down, but he took hold of her shoulders and gently turned her over onto her back. She was still breathing and looked slightly worse for wear, but her injuries were nowhere near life threatening.

"Artemis," he called. As he suspected, whatever knocked her out was light enough that she began to stir at the mention of her name. It took her mere seconds to open her eyes and look up at him. "What happened?" he asked her.

She slowly sat up, and as she did so, her eyes shot wide open. "Robin!" she gasped. She looked around, noticing that there was nothing around them. Police sirens sounded in the distance; the Gotham Police were on their way to respond to the prestigious school's lockdown. Batman and Artemis had another matter to be concerned about.

When she didn't see Robin, she lifted a hand to her face in shame and sorrow. "Sportsmaster was here. He was scouting the school. So…Robin grabbed me and we came here to confront him. Robin didn't do well; Sportsmaster kept hitting his torso over and over again and one time, Robin just…didn't get back up. I saw Sportsmaster grab him, and then I felt someone else hit me from behind." She lowered her hand, looking up at Batman with a sorrowful, apologetic look. "I'm so sorry…"

Instead of reacting emotionally, Bruce pushed logic to the front. He nodded and stood upright, glancing at the first squad car to appear. Commissioner Gordon stepped out first. "Artemis," he began calmly. "This is now an active investigation. Put the battle behind you and focus on collecting facts. The more diligent we are in this matter, the quicker we find Robin and Sportsmaster."

The archer rose to her feet, lowering her hand to her side as she curled it into a fist. "Understood," she said, though not all the emotion left her voice quite yet.

Batman approached the commissioner and began to speak to him, informing him that Robin and Artemis were patrolling and noticed Sportsmaster scoping the school. They confronted him, but Sportsmaster fled. Robin was in pursuit. Now their task was to see if Sportsmaster did do something to target the school or not.

In the meantime, Artemis pulled out her phone and sent out a mass text to the team: " _Gear up and come to Gotham Academy, ASAP."_ Whether she had Batman's permission or not, the team was going to be involved. Robin was their teammate—their friend. They would do absolutely anything to have him back.

*…*…*…*…*…*

 **Author: I knew it had been a while since I updated, but I didn't realize it had been a month! So sorry—hope that an extra long chapter makes up for the delay. Leave a review if you please.**


	6. Chapter 6: Reveal

Chapter Six: Reveal

This was a really terrible situation, particularly because it took place in the middle of a school day. Artemis had sent out the text around 1:00, but none of her teammates were able to make it immediately except for Aqualad. He was the only one who wasn't in school.

Half an hour later, Artemis was still the only one there aside from Batman. The police completed their perimeter sweep and checked on the students: There were no injuries, and while they were aware something was going on, they had no direct confrontation with anyone. The lockdown had served its purpose: it kept the students safe inside and the battle outside.

Artemis couldn't help thinking that the lockdown served Sportsmaster's purpose too. She and Robin were lured out and forced into combat. Somebody had come up and knocked her out, and it wasn't her father. Scarecrow, probably. While she waited for her teammates, she sat on the edge of the sidewalk and mulled it over. Batman was investigating, and she felt she had nothing to add to his search. She would just get in the way, and that was the last thing she wanted to do with Robin's life on the line.

Aqualad arrived at 1:36 exactly—almost 40 minutes after her text went out. When he saw her sitting on the sidewalk, he immediately knew that something was wrong. "Artemis," he called. There was concern in his voice, and she got oddly choked up hearing it. She didn't deserve the care. She let Robin be taken! By her father, no less… She pretended not to hear him, but he knelt down right in front of her and looked at her gently. "What happened?"

She had to tread carefully; not everyone on the team knew that Robin attended this school as Dick Grayson. How long was that going to stay a secret? Swallowing back the lump in her throat, she improvised. "Robin and I heard that Sportsmaster was outside this school, scoping it out," she said. "So Robin and I suited up to fight, but…" She could hardly even say it, it was so disgusting. "I got knocked out by someone. When I woke up, Robin and Sportsmaster were both gone."

Though Aqualad was clearly shocked, he kept the conversation factual. "You speak as if Sportsmaster didn't knock you out."

"No. I saw him in front of me. Robin was already down. I was about to go for him and then I felt something like a pole hit the back of my head. I was out right away."

"Who do you think it was then?"

She hadn't noticed it, but Batman had started coming over in their direction. He was just observing, listening to her testimony. "My guess? Scarecrow. I mean, we saw him with Sportsmaster the other night, so…"

"Artemis." She jumped at Batman's voice, turning to face him. "It wasn't Scarecrow."

"Do you know who it was?" When he shook his head, she couldn't help but wear a look of confusion. If he didn't know who it was, then how could he eliminate Scarecrow from the options?

"Scarecrow has been in Arkham this whole time, under strict security."

"But the other night, Robin and I saw him! Are you saying that someone's just playing copy-cat?"

"I fear the reality may be more complicated than that," Aqualad said. With how calm he was, one thing became clear: he already knew that Scarecrow was in Arkham. He and Batman must have spoken after the other night. "Do you remember the warehouse where the shipment was incinerated?"

"Yeah…" _Duh. Of course I do! Robin and I nearly died in there._

"Batman and I think that when that potion was vaporized, you and Robin inhaled enough that it had an impact on you. Hallucinations, for one thing. Perhaps anxiety as well?"

She hated to admit it, but… "I've had some nightmares in the past week."

"We'll take you back to the cave for a medical analysis."

"Not right now," she said. "We need to find Robin."

"Batman, is his tracker still on?"

"It is, but the signal has been tampered with. It changes location every ten seconds. It'll take time to find the true signal."

"But it's possible to do it, right?" Artemis burst.

Batman's silence was telling. Instead of answering that question, he gave them a plan. "We don't have access to satellites right now, but we can conduct interviews and discern what made Sportsmaster choose this school."

"Understood." Aqualad glanced over at Artemis when Batman did, seeing this unreadable expression of sadness on her face. "We will find him, Artemis," he said.

"There's something else," she said quietly. She knew what Batman was truly asking them to do—what he was asking _her_ to do. "I know where we need to go," she told Batman. "We'll go."

"Stay in touch."

*…*…*…*…*…*

Aqualad and Artemis were both quiet as they walked through Gotham. Even if they were both in costume, hardly anyone gave them a second glance. They saw masked wierdos often enough that even if they were the good guys, they didn't get much attention.

He was tempted to ask them if they had seen anything suspicious like Robin or Sportsmaster, but Artemis told him not to bother. She had a more solid lead than random Gotham citizens. While he was very curious about what that lead was, he couldn't help but observe the air of dread that surrounded her. It convinced him to stay quiet and observe for an extra few minutes.

Eventually they arrived at an apartment building. She led the way and he followed her down the hall towards one of the apartments on the first floor. She grabbed a key from a flower pot in the hallway and unlocked the door, stepping inside with great familiarity.

She walked ahead of him a few steps, through the hallway and into the living room. "Mom!" he heard her shout in horror. He rushed forward a few steps and saw what she saw: a fragile woman lying on the ground with a wheelchair several feet behind her.

Kaldur wordlessly drew his weapons and scanned the room for a threat. Artemis was already kneeling down next to the woman who was obviously her mother, trying to coax her back to consciousness. He took it upon himself to secure the building. Nothing in the living room. The kitchen was the same, as were the two bedrooms, all the closets, and the bathroom. There was an open window in the one bedroom that someone must have used to enter and escape.

He returned to the living room, seeing Artemis lift her now conscious mother into her wheelchair. "This place is clear," he said mostly to Artemis.

The woman looked up at him, taking his appearance into account. "You must be Aqualad," she said.

"I am," he confirmed.

"Kaldur, this is my mom, Paula."

"I've heard you've taken good care of my daughter on missions," Paula said. "Thank you."

"I need no thanks," Kaldur said. "Artemis is a friend."

"Mom," Artemis interrupted. "Who attacked you?"

"It was Law—Sportsmaster."

"I am sorry," Aqualad interrupted. "How is it you know Sportsmaster?"

Paula didn't immediately answer; instead, she looked at her blonde daughter and waited for her. Again Kaldur noticed that distraught expression on her face. He waited patiently for her to answer, but in the meantime, he heard a voice in his head. " _Kalur, it's M'gann. I've linked up me, Conner, Wally, Artemis, and you. Robin seems to be out of my telepathic range."_

" _We got Artemis's text about coming to the Gotham Academy,"_ Wally said. " _All three of us are about ten minutes out."_

" _Change to the address Artemis is giving instead,"_ Kaldur said, looking over at Artemis as he waited. She sighed out loud but complied verbally, providing her home address to the team.

" _That's close,_ " Wally said. " _We'll be there in about five minutes."_

"Artemis," her mom said out loud. "Why are you both suddenly silent?"

"Sorry…Mom...My teammates and I were having a…telepathic meeting, I guess. Three of them will be here in about five minutes."

"Okay," she said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "I expect to be part of the discussion with your friends when they arrive."

"You will be. We need you to help us and tell us why Sportsmaster was here. He was at Gotham Academy about three hours ago to initiate an attack. Would you know anything about that?"

"Unfortunately…I think I do," Paula sighed. "But I think it would be good to wait for all your teammates to arrive first. Why don't I make some tea for everyone?"

Artemis and Aqualad both frowned, but for different reasons. Kaldur frowned because this woman was just assaulted in her own home by Sportsmaster and three minutes after waking up, she was already playing the hostess. It cast many questions about Paula, but it did shed some light on why Artemis was the way that she was. Artemis was also learning how to respond to chaos with a calm and cool head, like her mother had already mastered.

So, six minutes later, the three of them sat in the living room sipping tea. Three other guests arrived and sat down on whatever seats were available. Wally, Conner, and M'gann sat on a couch, Kaldur on a folding chair, Paula in her wheelchair, and Artemis remained standing—clearly separating herself from the group.

"Are we going to be briefed?" Conner asked after a minute of stiff silence.

"Artemis," Kaldur prompted.

"…It was noontime when I noticed Sportsmaster standing outside of Gotham Academy," she began. "I snuck out during lunchtime and suited up. I called Robin in and we both went to face off against him."

"Where's Robin, then?" Wally interrupted.

"We fought Sportsmaster," Artemis continued, staring at the ground. "But he was still hurt from the warehouse, you know? So we fought, and we lost. I got knocked out by someone and when I woke up, they were both gone.

"What?" M'gann whispered.

"Before Sportsmaster went to the Gotham Academy, he came here."

"Why? What's so special about here?" Conner asked.

"I know," Artemis began. "I haven't introduced our…host, yet. This is Paula Crock. My mom." As if the air in the room could get any stiller. For a moment, everyone's eyes went to her mom, but after a moment, she felt a set rest on her. Probably Wally; he was impatient for the truth. If she had looked up at him though, she would have seen another look entirely: sympathy.

However, she didn't look up. And Artemis kept spilling the truth. "He came here and attacked her and knocked her out after she refused to cooperate with him. From what Kaldur and I gathered before you guys came here, he went through the papers lying around and figured out that I went to Gotham Academy. So…he came there.

"Mom, you don't want to say it," Artemis continued as she glanced up at her mom. "You said you'd wait for the team to come, but you don't have to say it. Sportsmaster came here, and then he came to Gotham Academy to find _me._ Not Robin. I don't know what changed his mind but he grabbed Robin when he originally came for me." The guilt of that made her eyes moisten. Robin took the fall for her _again._

"That doesn't make sense, though," M'gann said quietly. "Why would he know to come here? Why would he go for you specifically?"

"Because Sportsmaster's real name is Lawrence Crock." Even Aqualad hadn't heard this bit, so he also sat upright and stared at her. "Yeah," she said softly. "Sportsmaster's my dad. And Cheshire's my sister, not that that plays into this at all. He's come here before to try and convince me to go join the Light…"

"Artemis!?" Paula scolded.

"I know!" she practically shouted. However, she quickly calmed herself. "I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't want to worry you. He had just come to talk and I practically shoved him out the window. That's not the point of all this, okay? For some reason he targeted me today and he took Robin instead. Let's focus on cracking that case first."

The room was deathly silent. Again. Her teammates weren't used to seeing her get so riled up, and they certainly weren't used to her actually revealing her identity and her family secrets. This was a once and done thing-even though Robin wasn't there, he must have known. After all, he found her in school and told her to suit up.

Robin…He risked everything to save her. He revealed his identity and fought Sportsmaster with her. He seemingly encouraged her to stay out of the battle by taking all the heavy blows himself. He was just a kid! A stupid, hyperactive…brave, loyal, selfless kid. Friend. And now her dad was doing something vicious and terrible to him; she didn't know why Sportsmaster grabbed him, but she knew her dad, and he was never kind.

"…these locations where Lawrence used to do some business," Paula was saying as she wrote down a list for the team. While Artemis was stuck in her guilt, the rest of the team was being productive. "There's a good chance that he and your friend are at one of these locations, assuming that Lawrence is self-employed."

"Understood," Kaldur said with a nod. He took the piece of paper and read the addresses aloud. "We will split into three teams. Superboy and I will take the first four locations. Kid Flash and Artemis, the next four. Miss Martian, fly the bioship and see if you can gain any insight on where Robin is. Are we clear?"

When the whole team nodded, he looked directly at Artemis. "Let's move out."

*…*…*…*…*…*

 **Author: Sorry for another month-long wait; I'm sure you all know how chaotic real life can be. Thanks for sticking with the story and remember to drop a review if you'd like to.**


	7. Chapter 7: Guinea Pig

Chapter Seven: Guinea Pig

As Robin began to regain consciousness, he began to take inventory of the things around him. Unfortunately, that was pretty difficult with a blindfold over his eyes. All he had to trust were his other senses: Hearing in particular. The sound of helicopter blades filled his ears, and the stuffiness of the area told him that he was enclosed in that helicopter. He was in a seat, strapped in the seatbelt with his hands tied in front of him.

To his right, hair tickled his arm. To his left, an armored arm that he instinctively knew belonged to Sportsmaster. "…Artemis?" he asked lowly, thinking that the hair of the first person belonged to her.

"Not quite," a female voice replied.

Cheshire. It was definitely a surprise that she was here; she was the daughter of Sportsmaster, and she hated him just like Artemis hated him. Dick had done enough research to know that they worked together before, but even then, they were never on good terms. Robin tucked that fact away in his mind, knowing that at the right moment, he could turn the two of them against each other.

At that current moment, he had another concern. "Where is Artemis?" he asked lowly.

"Lying out in front of the Gotham Academy," Cheshire filled in. "We only needed one of you, and I wasn't going to let it be my sister."

Dick tried to decipher that on his own, but there were too many missing links. It didn't help that his head was so fuzzy from being knocked out, or that his ribs were screaming in pain. "I guess you wouldn't want to elaborate, would you?" he sighed.

"You'll have your answers soon enough," Sportsmaster said. The frequency of the helicopter blades began to change, and Robin was aware of the machine landing on solid ground. If he was going to escape, it would be the instant he stepped out of the helicopter.

But then…He realized that he needed answers more than safety. Batman coached him through experiences like this before: Batman himself had been captured by villains before and contained. However, he was always the master of his own containment. He played along, allowed them to imprison him, and he used it as an opportunity to gain knowledge. Once he had his knowledge, he completed his jail break.

Robin was truly a chip off the old block, because he decided in an instant that he was going to follow that course of action instead of trying to escape.

Sportsmaster grabbed Robin's shoulder and kept his large hand there as he shoved him out of the helicopter. The consistency of the ground beneath his feet told him that they landed on a solid surface. Not blacktop, because the heat coming off it wasn't that extreme. They were on top of a roof for sure, and that notion was proved when he walked through an open door and into an elevator. He felt his stomach drop as they descended deeper into the building. By his estimation, it was ten levels down. Then a right turn into a cool room. Another shove from Sportsmastser and he was in a chair that felt like a dentist's chair. It was long and had curves that were meant to comfort the patient, but also keep them level for whatever procedure the dentist was about to complete.

Something told Robin that while he may not have been there for dental work, _something_ was going to happen.

Cheshire stood next to the chair and untied the blindfold. When Dick saw the room, he noticed just how small it was. It was a comfortable size for maybe three people, with the large chair he was in being shoved against the back wall. There were end-tables on either side of him, and a prison-like lamp dangling from the ceiling.

More than that, he noticed a new person in the room.

"Lex Luthor?" Robin asked in surprise.

Lex Luthor, the shady financial overlord of Metropolis, stood right in front of the open door. He was professional as ever with his suit on and a briefcase in his hand. He was a stark contrast to Sportsmaster.

"I'm whelmed," Robin said as he tried to calculate everything in his mind. He had expected that Scarecrow would be standing there, not Lex.

"My dear boy," Lex Luthor said candidly. "I'm sure that will be changing soon. I do hope Sportsmaster and Cheshire weren't too brutal with your abduction."

Actually, they were. Robin was stiff from being still for so long in the chopper, and worse than that, his ribs were in much worse shape now. Broken, he was sure. He wouldn't be back in the field or in fighting condition for at least two months now.

"You have your lab rat, Luthor," Cheshire said as she walked towards the door. "My part in this is over."

"Yes," he agreed. "Your sister Artemis would have been an easier target, but I must admit, the results we get from Robin will be far more interesting."

"I'm waiting for my money," Cheshire said stonily.

"Mercy is standing outside with the funds. Nice doing business with you, Cheshire." Luthor stepped out of the way and just like that, Cheshire was out of the picture. "Sportsmaster, you'll be staying for the duration of the test, of course."

"That's what I'm being paid for."

"Your sense of loyalty is overwhelming." By that point, Robin was sitting more comfortably, though his hands were still tied in front of him. His belt was still on, and so was the com in his ear. Luthor and Sportsmaster were idiots after all. Batman and the team would be there soon enough to rescue him.

Now, the only duty he had was to collect information. At least Luthor was chatty.

"I don't like working with mercenaries, Robin," Luthor said plainly. "But we have a common interest. Your team discovered a pathogen in a warehouse approximately ten days ago. A failed batch of fear toxin. Someone released that we would be shipping it out, but in reality, we planned to destroy our failed product there that night. It was quite unfortunate that you and your team were there at the time."

"And how unfortunate it was for you that we analyzed the stuff and figured out it was Scarecrow's," Robin smirked.

"Scarecrow may have been the inventor of the initial formula, but he has no part in this project."

"That's a lie," Robin burst. "I saw him two nights ago with Sportsmaster."

"And _that's_ why we are where we are," Luthor said with a new passion. "Scarecrow truly wasn't there—and don't glare at me like that, I have no reason to lie about that. What I do have is an interesting explanation for your sighting. The night of the explosion, security cameras showed you and Artemis inside the building at the time of the detonation. The product was vaporized in the explosion, turning into a vapor that could easily be inhaled. If the pathogen truly was a failure, then it would have had no effect on you. But then two days ago, you claim to see Scarecrow…"

Robin was beginning to understand, and he didn't like it. "You're lying again," he growled.

"You proved that our initial product did have power in a way we never anticipated: when inhaled, it apparently induces hallucinations. Specifically, the hallucination of the perfecter of fear toxins: Scarecrow himself."

"No one else was there, kid," Sportsmaster laughed. "It was just me."

"Liar!" Robin suddenly launched himself out of the chair, but Sportsmaster's arm was there immediately. Robin's neck collided with the arm and he fell backwards, wheezing for breath. Okay, maybe Luthor's explanation made sense, but it just…it wasn't true! Weren't he and Artemis scanned for any irregularities in their blood when they came back from the mission? Wasn't _anyone_ thinking? Batman was normally on top of that stuff.

Batman…was busy analyzing the sample. He never checked Robin's blood for it. Why would he, when they had no proof that it weaponized when it was a vapor?

Even while he was wheezing, Robin sat himself up again and prepared to move. Sportsmaster drew back his fist and punched Robin in the face, and the teen immediately began to taste blood. Then another punch. Then the worst of all: a punch to his right side.

He spit up blood, gasping in pain. If the rib wasn't broken before, it definitely was now. The pain was too much; he couldn't compose himself even as Sportsmaster loomed over him and did something very surprising. The villain undid the restraints on Robin's hands. The boy took a swing at him—a weak, halfhearted swing. While his hand was up, Sportsmaster grabbed it and clipped it into the arm of the chair. His left arm was quickly strapped down the same way in an iron cuff.

Robin grunted, glaring up at Sportsmaster as he backed away. "What's this for?"

"You were exposed to our prototype toxin," Luthor began again. "So we know that you are susceptible to Scarecrow's fear toxin. Now that we have drafted another prototype, we need a test subject who will respond to it." He walked further into the room, opening his briefcase to reveal an oxygen tank and mask. Robin had no doubt that the case wasn't filled with oxygen, but Fear Toxin 2.0.

"This is now a laboratory," Lex declared. "You will be exposed to the standard dosage of fear gas. We will be monitoring your reaction to the gas so that we better know how to create the gas."

Robin struggled against the restraints—well, his arm restraints. His legs were still free. Those idiots weren't going to know what hit them.

Lex approached from the right side, and Robin extended that leg to grab him. One swift kick to the stomach had Lex bent over. Then, he lifted his leg and caught Lex's throat in the crook behind his knee. He pulled him down as much as he possibly could, leg closed like a clamp around the businessman's throat.

"Let me go, or he dies," Robin ordered Sportsmaster.

However, the man just laughed at him. "You want me to believe that _you_ would kill someone. I know Batman's rule: no killing."

"I think Lex Luthor might be an exception," Robin growled.

But seriously, what _was_ he thinking? He wasn't going to kill Lex. Maybe maim or seriously injure, but Sportsmaster was right: he had nothing.

The man laughed yet again, stepping over to the other side of Robin. He flat-handed Robin's chest right where he had before: on top of those three broken ribs. Robin coughed but kept his tight grip on Lex. Again, then again, and then for a fourth time, Sportsmaster hit that area with each hit having more force behind it. After hearing one of the ribs crack on the fifth hit, Robin finally lost his hold on Lex and lost his captive.

Businessman Lex Luthor stood up straighter, fixing his tie as he did so. "You couldn't have made him do that sooner?" he asked his partner.

"The kid's got determination," Sportsmaster shrugged. "It takes time to break that."

"Time that we now have," Lex pulled out the mask, but this time, he waited for Sportsmaster to secure Robin's legs. The chair had iron cuffs that went around his ankles and kept him stationary.

Although Robin fought back, Sportsmaster still managed to get him subdued easily enough. Lex placed the mask over Robin's mouth and nose. _No…No…_ Dick was powerless to fight off the gas that entered his mouth and made its way deeper into his body, infecting him with what was undoubtedly a terrible poison.

The effects were immediate. Subtle at first, but immediate. The word around him began to tilt and blur. He blinked behind his mask and watched as both Sportsmaster and Lex began to hook him up to more standard hospital equipment: heart monitors and other gadgets.

"We will use these to monitor the physical changes," Lex was saying to Sportsmaster. "Now to study the psychological…Mercy." His aid appeared in the doorway with a small creature on her arm: a g-gnome.

"This creature will analyze the mental stress. He may even be able to communicate the deeper secrets of Robin's mind, such as the identities of key Justice League members."

"This seems like a lot of trouble for getting their identities," Sportsmaster commented.

"That's just a bonus," Lex reminded him. "The true purpose of the g-gnome is to force a comma. The gas knocks out its victims at first, but when they awaken, they panic. The data is too raw when the physical actions skew the data. So, we will use the g-gnome to measure the stress _and_ force sedation."

Robin watched as the creature jumped up and landed on his shoulder. He instinctively tried to shake it off, but it wasn't moving. As its horns began to glow red and Robin's consciousness began to fade, he had only one thing to comfort him: Batman, and his team, were on their way. Luthor left the tracking device on his belt; he would be rescued from this soon enough.

If only he knew how wrong he was.


	8. Chapter 8: Seeking

Chapter Eight: Seeking

Artemis and Wally were onto their final location, and not a thing changed yet. Conner and Kaldur didn't find anything at their first two locations and M'gann was scouring the skies trying to telepathically link to Robin, wherever he was. Nothing. Batman had the most solid lead. After finishing up with the school, he retreated to the Batcave and began to use satellites to scout for how Robin and Sportsmaster left the city. He traced them to a helicopter, but aside from that, there was little progress being made.

The final location the two were seeking was an abandoned car garage in Star City. Wally and Artemis stood outside the main door and broke in at the same time. The place was completely dark, as they had suspected. It was almost midnight by now; travelling from location to location ate up a lot of their time even if one of them was a speedster.

Artemis held a flashlight in one hand and her mini crossbow in the other as she worked her way forward. The place was completely scavenged with stray gears and wrenches lying on the ground. The main room was clear, and now all they had to check was the lone office. She and Wally shared a look and nodded at each other. She headed towards the office while he looked through the debris of the main room, trying to see if there were any signs of recent use.

She abandoned stealth and opened the door, stepping in and shining the flashlight all around. There was a large desk in the room and an office chair. The room looked like it had last time she had seen it. Growing up with her mom in jail, Artemis had been on the road a lot with her dad. When they were in Star City and there was trouble, he'd lock her in the office and she would hide under the desk.

It was still large enough for someone to hide under. She walked over in that direction and peeked. Nobody was there. Of course.

But there was someone behind her. Out of nowhere, a hand went over her mouth. Artemis cried out instantly, grabbing her assailant by the throat and shoving them against the wall. While she shined her flashlight right into that person's face, recognition set in.

"Easy," the "assailant" chuckled. "You've gotten quite violent, sis."

Jade stood in front of her, clothed in her assassin gear. "Cheshire," Artemis growled, practically shouting. "I'm not in the mood for this!"

"Any time you'd like to let go of my neck," her sister replied calmly.

She kept her hand there for just a moment, not noticing Wally speed into the room. Of course he had heard all the noise. He suddenly set his hand on her extended arm, gently trying to coax her off her sister. She blinked and then slowly released Jade, though she didn't change her tone. "Where's Dad?"

"Uh…" Jade glanced over at Kid Flash. "Do you mean Sportsmaster?"

"We all know they're the same, Jade," Artemis snapped. "Now where is he?"

"Why should I know?"

"Because," Kid Flash began, "Security cameras outside the school caught you on tape knocking out Artemis."

Yeah, that was something else Batman picked up in his searching. They already knew that it wasn't Scarecrow who knocked out Artemis, since he really had no role to play in this whole thing after all. It was Cheshire who snuck up on her and knocked her out when she was about to launch an arrow right at her father's throat.

"I see," Jade said, calm as ever. "I don't know where he is."

"Stop **lying**!" Artemis boomed. The archer reached forward and grabbed her sister by the shirt, shoving her harder against the wall. "You do know, now tell me where he is! Where Robin is!"

"I've never seen you this pushy," Jade commented in amusement.

"This isn't a game! If you don't talk to me, I'll turn you over to Batman. He's pretty ticked off that his partner was taken you know…"

"And threats," Jade smiled. "You really are a Crock."

"Why are you here?" Wally interrupted. "You had to know we were checking all of Sportsmaster's known hideouts, yet here you are. You _wanted_ to see us."

"Impressive," she said. "And you do have a point. I came to deliver a message to Artemis."

"I'm listening." Artemis settled, pulling her hands back down to her sides and taking a step back.

"I'm here to tell you not to pursue Sportsmaster."

"Oh come on!"

"Artemis." Suddenly, Jade was deathly serious. Any mocking and taunting that she had a minute ago was replaced with concern. "I was a part of that attack in front of your school to _save_ you. Sportsmaster's new partner had nasty things in store for you, and I wasn't going to let that happen. I led them to your friend instead."

"Like that's supposed to make me feel better!" Artemis snarled. "I'd rather they took me!"

"No. You really don't."

"Who's the business partner?" Kid Flash asked.

"Kid," Jade said, facing him completely. "If I revealed that to you, I'd have to kill you. Go figure it out yourself."

"Fine. Where are they? We'll drop in and say hello." His words were casual, but his tone was anything but. Robin was his best friend, and he wasn't taking the situation lightly at all.

"They _were_ at a Cadmus lab in Houston six hours ago. By now, I'm sure they moved."

"To where?"

"That I don't know."

"Jade," Artemis growled.

"I knocked you out, then went with Sportsmaster and Robin to that laboratory," she explained. "I got paid for my part in the assault, then I jumped ship. I told you everything I can."

"No, there's a lot more than that. What did they want with me? Why'd they take Robin instead?"

"Kid Flash, you better take her back to your hideout and give her that medical treatment Aqualad and Batman were talking about," Jade said randomly.

"Jade!" Artemis shouted.

Wally had never heard about any medical treatment, so he automatically looked at Artemis in concern. In that time, Cheshire shoved Artemis into Wally and ran out the door, out of the shop, and out of sight. And while Artemis did shout for Wally to drop her and chase after Jade, by the time he got out there, she was gone without a trace.

He walked back inside, seeing that Artemis was trembling. "Hey," he said gently, reaching out and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay? What did she mean by medical treatment?"

"It's nothing," she said. "We can still find her. We can ask her more about…"

"Artemis." Wally tightened his grip on her shoulder and kept her still. "Cheshire is gone. And we got everything we were going to get out of her. Let's go back to the cave and to medical."

She couldn't comply. Cheshire just confirmed what she knew all along: that she was the original target, not Robin. Whatever he was going through at that moment was actually for her, and knowing Sportsmaster—her dad—he was being tortured.

Artemis squeezed her eyes shut to hide the moisture that was building in her tear ducts. She squeezed her eyes so hard that they began to sting even worse from the tears being kept inside. Her heart was ready to burst. This was her fault—

Suddenly her head was nestled in Wally's shoulder and his hand was resting on the back of her head. The other hand was on the small of her back, lightly. It was a hesitant touch, and it was clear that he wasn't going to keep her captive if she was uncomfortable with the hug. At first, she wasn't comfortable. She was tense and fidgety and just wanted to get out of there, kill her father, and rescue Robin.

But as she began to calm down, her shoulders began to drop. She felt the tears slide down her cheeks and her own arms wrapped around Wally.

"It's my fault," she whispered in horror. "Whatever's happening to him, it's because I couldn't protect him."

" _None_ of this is your fault," he returned quietly in her ear. "This is all on Sportsmaster and whoever his partner is."

She expected him to be mad at her. She thought that he would walk out the minute he found out that Sportsmaster was her dad, and that it was her dad who kidnapped Robin. Instead, he had been treating her with care and gentleness all night. "I don't understand," she sniffed. "Robin's your best friend. How can you not hate me right now?"

"Hate you?" He pulled away, keeping his hands on her shoulders as he stared at her with startled eyes. "Why would I hate you?"

"Your best friend should be here, but I'm here instead. You should hate me for that."

"I could never hate you," he said simply. "Robin may be my best friend, but you're….you're important to me, Artemis. And if you were in his place, I'd be a wreck right now. Robin's gonna be okay. He's a master escape artist. But we're gonna get there before he even has to escape. Okay?"

She stared at him for a moment, but then nodded. "Okay." She lifted her hands and wiped at her tears, consecutively forcing Wally's hands back down to his sides.

"Okay," he agreed. "Now let's go back to the cave. You can brief me about the 'medical treatment' on the way."

*…*…*…*…*…*

The rest of the team was back long after Artemis and Wally. After their meeting with Cheshire, Wally called in their findings to the rest of the team. Aquald had instructed the whole team to meet at that location, but then Wally said that he was taking Artemis back to the cave for a medical inspection with Black Canary and Red Tornado. Kaldur already knew what that was all about and instantly agreed. The rest of the team would go to Huston instead and check that location, even if it was unlikely that Robin was still there.

Before and during the blood sampling, Artemis didn't tell Wally what it was all about. This managed to make his curiosity increase tenfold. As soon as Black Canary stepped into the hallway where he was, he asked her what was going on. She told him about Batman and Aqualad's suspicions: Artemis had inhaled some of the fear toxin that night in the warehouse. They didn't even know that it was able to be ingested through inhalation, but it was their most logical guess of why Artemis and Robin were seeing Scarecrow and having nightmares.

It took a few hours to run the tests. During that time, Wally and Artemis changed into street clothes and sat in the longue, watching _Friends_ reruns with little to none of their attention actually focused on the screen. Both of them were wondering: Who was Sportsmaster's business partner? And what did they want with Robin?

The remaining members of the team returned at 6:03 precisely. Wally and Artemis had begun to doze off on the couch, but they woke up completely as soon as Superboy stepped into the room. He didn't exactly have a light footstep.

"Anything?" Artemis blurted at nearly the same time as Wally.

"Nothing," M'gann said softly. "We saw a few drops of blood on one of the floors…fresh."

"We may think it is Robin," Kaldur inserted, "but if that's all the blood he's lost, then he is not being tortured. They must have procured him for some other purpose."

"Whatever purpose it was, they were originally planning on it being me," Artemis said.

"Artemis…" Wally began. He was expecting her to blame herself again, and he didn't want that.

She obviously picked up on that tone and gave him a steady look. "I don't say that to place the blame," she said. "What I mean is, Robin and I have something in common that made us both equal targets. What do we have in common that Sportsmaster and his partner might care about?"

"Let's begin listing similarities," Wally immediately agreed. He was up and out of his seat in a rush, grabbing paper and pen before he sat down. It was his plan to write down everything, no matter how small it seemed to be. "Anything at all might help."

"You're both on the team," M'gann stated. The team looked at her, but she shrugged. "You said _anything._ "

"That's good," Wally nodded. "Keep it coming."

"They were both stationed in Gotham," Kaldur said.

"Both readily available. They were leaving the scene with one or the other no matter what."

"Which means the rest of the team is probably safe," Wally hypothesized.

"We'll assume that," Kaldur agreed.

"They're both human."

Now _that_ one was too obvious. Everyone looked over at Conner, who had spoken the line as if it held some importance. It didn't seem important, but as the silence settled, all of them realized that he may have led them to something important.

"The two humans on the team were targets," Wally said.

"Um, and what are you?" Artemis asked.

"I'm human but my body's different in a lot of ways. Rapid healing and metabolism and such. You and Robin are…well…normal."

"I feel like that can't be a coincidence," Kaldur said. "What else?"

"Artemis." The team jumped, turning to face the figure who was standing in the kitchen. Black Canary had just entered, and she was looking at Artemis with sympathetic eyes. "A word."

"Be right back," the blonde said to her teammates. She rose and walked over to Black Canary, glancing at her team once she was standing there. They were silent, and she knew that they were all listening in to the conversation. Each one of them was brought up to speed with the hypothesis, and they wanted to know the results at the same time as Artemis.

"I'm sorry," Black Canary began, keeping her voice low so the team wouldn't overhear easily. "We were right. The pathogen did weaponize once it hit the air, and you and Robin inhaled the fear gas. But don't worry-" She had suddenly noticed Artemis's eyes get distant and her face pale as soon as she had finished that previous sentence. "It's almost entirely out of your system now. In a day or two, you should be completely clean."

"You said Robin did too," she said blankly.

"Yes, you were both-"

"Me and **Robin**!" Artemis suddenly said more loudly. The rest of the team (who had been straining to hear) jumped at her new volume. She turned and walked into the living room, staring specifically at Wally. "Cheshire was giving us the answer all along. We asked her why they wanted me, and she told us to come back for the medical exam to see if I was hit by the fear gas or not. Robin and I both were."

"You and Robin were both infected by the toxin," Conner said simply.

"That must have a connection," M'gann agreed. "Sportsmaster was in Gotham, near Arkham where Scarecrow was. Scarecrow originally created the toxin, so Sportsmaster is directly tied to the toxin."

"That leaves the matter of his partner still up in the air."

"We just need to make a list of who might have an interest in a fear gas."

"We'll do a cross examination of Scarecrow's past associations and Sportsmaster's, and we'll see who they've both had contact with."

The room was buzzing, with everyone spurting out any ideas they had of how to conduct the investigation. They were paths to be followed, people to inform, and files to scout.

And, on top of that, they had something new in the mixture: Hope. Once they found out who the partner was, they would be able to track Robin down.

This whole thing was almost over.

*…*…*…*…*…*

 **Author: Thanks to everyone who's been following, and thanks to Marmar218 and superstar072299 for dropping reviews** **. Updates will keep coming once a month, since real life has taken me captive. And even though this chapter ends with "this whole thing was almost over," rest assured that I have plenty more plot to cover.**

 **Who's heard about Season 3?! SO PUMPED!**

 **Peanut**


	9. Chapter 9: Nightmare

Chapter Nine: Nightmare

Dick Grayson didn't exactly have a normal childhood. He grew up as part of Haly's Circus with his family always by his side. That wasn't just biological family either; the whole circus was a family. Some circuses had the motivation to swing into town, swindle people out of as much money as they could, and then continue on to do the same exact thing to the next town.

Not Haly's. Haly cared more about making people feel wonder and joy than the cash flow. That went for the staff as well. Each member of the crew always felt amazement when they were watching the show and their family members push each other to new heights. That always encouraged everyone to constantly improve themselves, so that the wonder would never be lost in the chaos of travelling around and working/training long hours.

Dick was born into the circus, so he never knew any other life. When it came to biological family, he had his parents, John and Mary, an Uncle Rick, Aunt Karla, and an older cousin named John.

And man, they were a great family. When he was a toddler, he was always so curious about everything going on around them that he sometimes got into a bit of trouble. One time, his parents put him in their room in the train and left him there in his crib while they finished loading up some equipment. Well he obviously took that opportunity to break free from his crib and waddle his way out of the room, down the hall, and into his cousin's room. His parents returned to find the crib empty and totally freaked out. The train stayed in place an extra three hours before Uncle Rick discovered him asleep in Cousin John's bed.

Aside from that adventurous streak, he was also mischievous—especially with his cousin John. He would constantly take just one shoe of his from his chest and hide it somewhere else. The whole family insisted that he was just losing his shoes since he was such a disorganized mess. It was two years before Dick finally came clean and told them that it was his handiwork all along.

Even before that, his family began teaching him the ways of acrobatics. At first they were hesitant because he was just a kid and falling could be dangerous, but they knew that they couldn't keep Dick away from it forever. It was the family business after all. So, they each began to teach him. His aunt and uncle taught him about balance, because it was important to have full control of your body when you were flying. His parents taught him grip strength, because they didn't want to see him fall. And his cousin—well, he taught him the flips and more edgy stuff that everyone else stayed away from.

His first show was when he was seven years old. After that, he didn't miss a show. Not a single show in two years, until that night.

That night was their first time in Gotham City.

The flu was going around and he was the sixth person in the circus to get it bad. His family had insisted that he stay in bed and not even bothering coming to the show—after all, it wasn't supposed to be anything special. But he wasn't going to comply with that, because this would be one of his only chances to actually _see_ the show as an audience member.

Haly had a special seat set up in the southwest region of the arena—at ground level by the rest of the stands. He took it upon himself to grab one of those seats and watch the entire show. And he had to say, it was _incredible._ The crowd's energy blended with his and he felt exhilaration instead of the fever and stomach pain.

When it finally reached the end, he was both sad and glad; his illness was starting to make him feel terrible, but the show was so good! Well, he would stick around and watch his family's closing act. The net was removed and they all began to do their routine. It started simple at first, but then it became more complex as they didn't just twirl around on their one line; they would switch places, and then add onto one person. All five of them were eventually swinging on one, with two balancing on his dad's arms, one on his shoulders, and the other grasping his legs.

They shaped themselves like a star, because that was exactly what they were: the starring act of Haly's Circus.

Dick cheered along with the crowd, staring at his family in complete awe. It looked even more amazing from the ground! The crowd also screamed in glee when they saw just how stable the Grayson family was.

He didn't notice it until his aunt, who had been the lowest on the rope, seemed to lose her grip. She started to fall.

But then his dad began to fall too! And his cousin, and his mom, and his uncle…

He realized it as soon as he heard the first sickening thud of his aunt: the rope and snapped, and his family fell into a large heap.

After that, his mind collected small details but nothing major. He remembered that it was a man who screamed the loudest, that it was four random members of the audience who jumped over the stands to try to give medical treatment. Haly called 911. The Strong Man came over to Dick and tried to turn him away but the boy continued to stare, taking in all the information that he would eventually lose because of the shock.

The paramedics appeared eventually and took all the bodies to the hospital, but only his uncle was alive. Later he found out that his uncle was completely paralyzed, and the only reason her survived was because he had fallen on the body of his son.

Nobody asked Dick if he wanted to go with him to the hospital because they had no clue who he was. The rest of the circus cast was focused on crowd control and trying to get everyone out so that the police could inspect what they were considering to be a crime scene.

One man stayed. That man came down to the ground floor and spoke to Haly.

"Sir," Haly said to the stranger, "you need to evacuate with everyone else."

"I will," he responded. "But shouldn't that boy also leave?" He motioned over to Dick, who was just sitting in the chair and staring at the rope.

Haly sighed sadly. "His name is Dick Grayson, and that was his family."

"Does he have any other family to be with right now?"

"No…"

"I see," the stranger frowned.

A new figure in a Gotham Police uniform approached the two men. "Excuse me," he said. "My name is Commissioner Gordon. We'll have men inspecting this area soon, and I was wondering if you could move that boy away from here. Did I just hear he was a Grayson?"

"Yeah, he is," Haly confirmed. "He's…" He turned to look over his shoulder, only to notice that Dick had approached and was standing between him and the Commissioner. "Dick?"

"The rope was cut," the boy said blankly.

"What's that, son?" Gordon asked him suddenly.

"That rope. On the trapeze. It was sawed .It didn't just break. It was…"

It was purposeful. His family wasn't just dead—they were murdered.

"If that's true…This boy might be a target now," Gordon said gravely. "Mr. Haly, do you have a safe place we can keep him?"

"He doesn't have any other family to go to…"

"He can stay with me." They all looked to the man who they had forgotten about.

"Mr. Wayne?" Gordon asked.

"My home is secure, and besides…I want to help."

Somehow, that was good enough for everyone. Dick wound up staying with Bruce Wayne while the Gotham Police continued their investigation. They discovered the truth behind the whole thing. Tony Zucco had tried to exhort money from Haly, Haly refused, and Zucco cut the line to punish him. But the police just couldn't get their hands on him. Neither could Gotham's legendary vigilante Batman.

Bruce Wayne was out of the house a lot. He had to run his family business and at night, he seemed to disappear. Dick wasn't sleeping at night anyway, so he wandered around the house a lot. Eventually he discovered the Batcave and everything changed. He and Bruce trained both intellectually and physically so that they could capture Tony Zucco and bring him to justice. Along the way, he became Robin and they took down the baddies together.

But never Tony Zucco. He got away. Dick lost everything: his life as an acrobat and his entire family. His uncle may have survived the accident, but he committed suicide six months afterward. He couldn't live with everyone else being dead. Dick hardly could live with it too, but once he became Robin, he became stronger.

Stronger…until he saw the fabrications his mind created due to Scarecrow's fear toxin. He saw terrible things, like his family's deaths. He made up other events that never even happened. In his mind he saw M'gann and Khaldur being disintegrated by fire, Superboy being labeled a threat by the government and being given a lethal injection of kryptonite, KF not being fast enough to beat a bullet, Artemis being killed by her father…He watched all of his friends die in the worst ways he could imagine. Batman too died because of a single bullet—the cruelest fate possible for someone who was constantly fighting and surviving.

There was one thing he didn't dream of while sedated and dosed with the fear toxin, and that was his own death. Dick didn't fear dying; what he feared was living. Living and being alone without all of his friends.

That was his greatest fear. And that was what he concocted in his mind and lived through with the fear toxin pumping through his veins for the ten days he was captive.

*…*…*…*…*…*

 **Author: I know, I know—sad way to end a chapter. :/ Don't worry, it'll get better soon.**

 **Thanks for the reviews that popped in since the last chapter, bookwormbored, HeroUp88, and youngjustice! Youngjustice, I don't know when I'll be done with the story. I've written ahead to Chapter 14, and I think things will come to a close around Chapter 16. I'd love to post all the chapters I already have written, but I gotta stay ahead, because in the past 3 months, I've only managed to write one chapter. Real life's a pain! So for now, expect monthly updates.**

 **Happy New Year, readers! May we see more Young Justice this year ;)**

 **Peanut**

 **PS: I don't read the comics, but this chapter was partly based off of Young Justice (2011)'s 6** **th** **issue.**


	10. Chapter 10: Reveal

Chapter Ten: Reveal

The whole team was used to investigations taking time. Most of the time though, they didn't have to just sit around and wait for results. Batman would give them a mission and they would go on it. Then while Batman was unpacking all their findings from that mission, they would go on another. And so the cycle would continue.

This time was different. It wasn't just because it was an investigation concerning the location of their teammate; it was the fact that they couldn't go and beat anyone up in the meantime. They compiled their list of suspects: enemies ranging from Gotham's most infamous villains such as the Joker and Poison Ivy to Metropolis's Lex Luthor. They were doing surveillance and tracking of every one of those suspects, but leads weren't popping up quickly enough.

It had been ten days since Robin's abduction, and they didn't seem to be any closer to finding him than they had been six days ago. The whole team was itching for a fight and a way to track down Sportsmaster. At one time or another, all of them noted that Batman was cool and composed throughout the whole investigation. None of them had ever seen him rattled before, but despite that, it felt weird to see him so collected in the middle of all this.

They didn't see underneath that layer until the middle of the tenth day. It was a Saturday, so they were all spending their time in the cave. Wally was keeping himself busy by trying to teach Artemis how to play a video game (not that she needed too much teaching; she beat him on her third try and hadn't lost a game since then). M'gann was cooking—she had been doing that a lot in the past week, so the kitchen was overflowing with cookies and brownies and muffins. Her rational was that Robin would want a snack when they got him back. Well, he would certainly have a choice of snacks for the next month. Conner stood and watched both the cooking and the video games; he had never had a problem with being observant and taking everything in.

Kaldur also stood by the sidelines, but he didn't even try to observe anything that was going on around him. As the leader, he was used to taking command of a situation and leading his team to results. This time was different. There were no leads for them to follow, no action to be taken. One of his teammates was gone and he could do nothing to bring him back.

That irritated him beyond all belief. He had no family of his own, so he considered each and every teammate to be his family. Robin was exceptionally special. Not only was he the youngest of the team, but the two of them had been friends before this team was founded. He, Kid Flash, Robin, and Red Arrow were bosom buddies when they were still sidekicks. At first, he remembered being wary of a child as young as Robin being in the battlefield. His opinion quickly changed when he saw the dynamic duo in battle, and how Batman treated Robin as an equal. That respect was earned fairly, since Robin was a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. But outside of it, he was a valued friend.

They were all gathered in the kitchen/living room area, so none of them were near the zeta beams when a new guest entered. It was a few minutes later that Batman appeared in the area. Kaldur immediately noticed that he looked worn and tired.

"Team," Batman said, calling everyone to attention. "We have a lead."

Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing. Wally jumped up from his game without turning it off, running to stand in front of Batman. Artemis turned it off, but only so the noise wouldn't interrupt their meeting. Then she too was next to Wally. Conner, M'gann, and Kaldur all stood in front of him as well, listening without interrupting him.

"As you know, I've been monitoring each person of interest this past week. I was able to do this thanks to the tracers that you placed on them early last week. I ordered you all to standby these past few days so that we wouldn't make our marks suspect anything. Since the start, I have been watching Lex Luthor with particular interest. He went away on four separate business trips over the past few days. This is not unusual for him, but travelling can be suspicious. He is now our target for this reason: he has reached out to see me in a personal meeting tomorrow."

The team as silent for a few moments, processing everything that their mentor was saying. "How does one acquire a meeting with Batman?" Kaldur asked after a few moments.

Batman looked directly at him. "He didn't," he said plainly. "Lex Luthor reached out to me outside of this costume, which means that he discovered Robin's identity and subsequently identified me."

At that moment, Wally and Artemis shared a look. Both of them found out Robin's identity—Dick Grayson, and then they were able to discern who Batman was too. It made sense for Lex Luthor to reach out to Bruce Wayne as a business venture, but the sudden meeting and the fact that it was happening while Dick was gone was too much of a coincidence.

"Tomorrow at noon, Lex Luthor is going to have a meeting with me." To everyone's surprise, Batman reached up and pulled at his bask. He pulled it up and the over the back of his head, allowing it to fall behind him and rest on his shoulders. "Bruce Wayne."

Two of the more vocal members already knew his identity, so they kept their mouths shut. The other three—Conner, M'gann, and Kaldur—weren't the kind of people to have loud reactions to a thing like that anyway, so the silence lingered heavily in the room.

"I have theories of how he discovered that Robin is Bruce Wayne's adopted son, Dick Grayson, but those are theories I'll keep to myself for now," Bruce continued. "With what I know about Luthor, he will try to use Robin and his knowledge of my identity to blackmail me. Tomorrow will be him establishing that he knows my identity and he will discuss terms of what he expects me to do to persuade him to keep his mouth shut."

"But we've been tracking Luthor for the past week," Wally finally interrupted. "Doesn't hat give us an idea of where Dick is?"

"Yes. I now have Dick's position nailed down. However, this isn't just a matter of a rescue anymore. If Lex Luthor reveals Robin's identity, then we are bound to fall into this situation again and again. I have a plan, and I'll need your help to protect both Robin and his identity."

The team, once again, was speechless. Batman sent them on missions before and he obviously trusted them as a team, but he was given them this mission instead of going himself or sending the justice league. It was up to them to save their best friend and Batman's son.

"We are on board," Kaldur said after a few moments, speaking as the team leader. "What would you have us do?"

*…*…*…*…*…*

 **Author: This was a shorter chapter, but a key one for building up to what's coming up in the next few. Thanks to all of you who have been reading and leaving reviews! I'll take some time to respond to the review here.**

 **EmilyTT, thank you SO much for all your thoughts! I appreciate all the ideas you've left for me. That one line with Dick was extremely satisfying to write. A trap I sometimes fall into is overwriting things, so being so haunting in such a concise way was awesome for me.**

 **It won't come immediately, but we will have a chance to see Dick recovering from all of this. I like providing more than just a compelling plotline; I like providing stories where we see characters go through great struggles and overcome them. So yeah, seeing him recovering is written in.**

 **Till next time,  
Peanut**


	11. Chapter 11: Blackmail

Chapter Eleven: Blackmail

"Mr. Wayne, Lex Luthor is here for your appointment," Bruce Wayne's secretary's voice rang through his speaker phone.

Bruce Wayne was alone in his luxurious office, not bothering to be productive in any way that morning. Yesterday was the day he had a meeting with the teens of Young Justice and told them everything: how he was Batman, how Lex Luthor knew his identity, and how this meeting would be used to force Bruce's hand. If he was going to keep Lex quiet about his and Robin's identities, there were going to be many demands that he would have to meet.

That was if the meeting went the way that Lex intended. Lex Luthor didn't know about Bruce's trump card, and he wouldn't know until the proper time.

"Send him in," Bruce responded through the phone. He unclasped the hands that had been set before him on the desk and rose to walk towards the door. In the meantime, his secretary opened the door and led Mr. Luthor in. He was clad in his business attire and had an envelope in his hand: presumably, a contract to be signed.

"Caroline, please ensure that no one disturbs us during this meeting," he asked of his secretary.

"Of course Mr. Wayne." She gave him a nod and then exited the room, locking the door as well to ensure that nobody would just wander in. This was typical of meetings that Bruce emphasized could not be disturbed.

Once she was out, Bruce met Lex's eyes with the coolness of Batman and the business mindset of billionaire Bruce Wayne.

"Mr. Wayne," Lex began. "Thanks for agreeing to meet with me. I believe we both know what this meeting is about."

"I believe we do," Bruce concurred. "You'll excuse me if I check to see if you're wired."

"It's what I expected." As Lex spread out his arms and allowed Bruce to check him for a transmitting device, he continued speaking. "I assure you though, the only ones who know the identity of Robin are Sportsmaster and I. That will remain the case even after today."

"My boy's name is Dick," Bruce said with a bite.

"Yes, it is," Lex agreed. "Call him whatever you will—it doesn't change the fact that he is in my custody. Of course after we discuss terms, he will be released to you."

Bruce stood up straight, having completed his search and having found nothing. "Let's begin then." He turned and walked over to his desk, sitting behind it and holding out his hand for the contract that was in the yellow envelope. Once Lex was seated across from him, he relinquished the envelope and allowed Bruce to read through it.

What he found wasn't startling. Lex was going to force him into being his business partner.

Wayne Enterprises has many facets. It worked in everything from foods and shipping to technologies, aerospace, and biotech. Mr. Luthor wanted him to expand the company's biotech sector and focus on producing items that could be turned into weapons if they were in the hands of the right person. After the development of the "innocent" biotech items listed in the contract, Mr. Wayne would formally sell that sector of Wayne Enterprises to Lex Luthor in an effort to expand both of their businesses.

Bruce was also bound by contract to not reveal any of this to anyone in his company, the Justice League, or to Dick Grayson, who would surely see what transpired to save his life and take revenge on Lex Luthor.

It was a very lengthy contract that was clearly written by Lex Luthor himself and looked over by a lawyer at some stage or another. Bruce could only trust that Lex was truthful when he said that he and Sportsmaster were the only ones who knew Dick's identity.

"Do you have any questions, Mr. Wayne?" Lex asked after ten minutes of silence.

"You have a very short clause here about my son," Bruce said as he pointed at the bottom of page four. "That he will be returned to me after I sign this contract."

"Yes, there is no specific date," he concurred. "Because, Mr. Wayne, if I gave a specific time, you would be able to deduce Dick's whereabouts and quite possibly do something to render all this inert. I will write in a time before you sign, but not now."

"I want evidence that he's alive."

"I assure you, I have evidence." Lex motioned to the phone on Bruce's desk. "May I?"

"Do it."

Lex lifted the phone and turned it towards him, dialing in the number of his colleague. After just a moment, he began speaking. "Sportsmaster, it is time to provide the evidence."

*…*…*…*…*…*

 _Sportsmaster, it is time to provide the evidence._ That was what Robin was able to piece together as he tuned in to Sportmaster's cell phone. His nightmares had ended once he was allowed to awaken. The g-gnome was now in a briefcase on the other side of the room. Apparently its purpose had been completed. Dick had no clue how long he was under, but it felt like a long time. Even though he calculated Sportsmaster woke him up an hour ago, he still felt so weak and sluggish that he couldn't move.

"Got it," Sportsmaster responded to his phone. He pulled it away from his ear and held it in front of Robin. "Give Bruce some proof that you're alive."

Bruce, not Batman. That meant that Sportsmaster and Lex knew who both of them were. They were going to force Bruce's hand to keep their secrets safe and bring him back.

That also meant that they got what they were looking for with Robin's exposure to the fear toxin. They won on three fronts: succeeding with the fear toxin, learning Batman and Robin's identities, and now they were blackmailing Bruce Wayne.

It was such a startling thing to wake up to that Dick just stared at the phone in silence.

That is, until Sportsmaster suddenly through his fist into Dick's stomach with a harsh punch. He automatically cried out in agony, though he hushed it after the first initial cry.

" _Dick?"_ Bruce called through the phone after the cry.

Dick Grayson cast Sportsmaster a dirty look as he recollected his breath. He was being forced to talk to Bruce—to show him that he was still alive. "Yeah," he breathed. "I'm here."

" _Are you okay?"_

"I'm ok." Not ok. "Feeling the aster." Feeling much more than aster.

" _You'll be coming home soon. We'll worry about the aster then."_

"Copy that," Dick replied. Whatever Bruce was doing to save him, Dick wouldn't allow it. He'd break out of here as soon as he could and tell Bruce not to do anything Lex asked him to do because he'd be safe and sound and no longer a pawn in their game.

His identity was still at stake though, as was Bruce's. They'd have to work together to find a way out of that one.

"Good enough, boss?" Sportsmaster said into the phone that he now held by his ear. Whatever Lex said was good enough, because Sportsmaster hung up his cell phone and placed it in his pocket. "Alright bird boy, let's get moving. I'm supposed to deliver you to Arkham Asylum so your adoptive dad can find you there. Media'll buy that the inmates kept you captive for a while."

"You're…" Robin started before he coughed. Sportsmaster and Luthor had this planned out completely. They were never going to be linked to anything. Sportsmaster did fight him and Artemis, and yes, Sportsmaster may have been seen taking Robin away. But that was the only connection the general public would be able to make; the rest they would assume based on where Robin would be found.

Sportsmaster grabbed at his arm and dragged him to his feet. Again, he felt fatigue that told him he was under far longer than just a single day. He wasn't sure how long since he never experienced something like this before.

The villain practically dragged him out the door, through the hallway, and out the door. He immediately noticed that this wasn't the same location he was brought to originally; they must have moved him while he was unconscious.

It was fortunately a pretty dark and gloomy day, which made it easier for Dick to adjust to the outside world after being locked away and asleep for so long. He noticed the layout of an abandoned shipping yard twenty feet below the stairs that they stood atop of. And then to their front and to the right, there was the ocean. Or the sea—either way, it was too large for him to see the full expanse of it.

"C'mon, bird boy," Sportsmaster snapped as he shoved Robin forward. The teen grunted and reached out just in time to grab the railing that lined the stairs. He wanted so badly to just flip himself over the bars and escape from Sportsmaster, but he could barely walk, let alone fight and escape. He needed to bid his time. He needed to recover as quickly as possible and work smarter, not harder. He squinted through the mask that he still donned and looked around him.

Even if he did get himself over the bars, the nearest shipping crate was at least fifteen feet down. He'd hurt himself worse by jumping onto it. And then there was just the option of walking down the stairs. There was a boat waiting for them: just a small one that would fit him and Sportsmaster.

Yeah, there was no way he'd be able to get the wheel away from Sportsmaster and steal/drive the boat.

To his left, there was just land. A little hilly, and there were small buildings atop the hills. His best bet was probably to incapacitate Sportsmaster somehow, climb the hills, and hope that someone had a working phone and a pity for beaten superheroes.

From one of the buildings, Robin suddenly saw a glimmer of light. Apparently Sportsmaster saw it too. He suddenly wrapped an arm around Robin's torso. He picked him up roughly and jumped over the railing, landing on the concrete of the shipping hard ground. Even if Robin didn't land directly on it, he still felt the force of the landing on his ribs. That wasn't his primary concern though.

As soon as he and Sportsmaster were airborne a second ago, a sound had pierced the air. The bullet would have pierced them too if Sportsmaster hadn't reacted the way that he did.

Okay. Someone wanted either him or Sportsmaster dead.

"Hey kid?" Sportsmaster began, setting Robin on the ground. "None of your friends use sniper rifles, do they?"

"Hardly," Dick said coolly. _So, Sportsmaster doesn't know who it is either._ He looked up at the man who had held him captive and saw his mask. Beneath it, Sportsmaster's eyes were deep in thought. The only reason they could both chat like this was because they were not settled behind one of the empty shipping crates.

As Sportsmaster pulled a weapon out, Dick heard a noise coming from behind them. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the woman he recognized as Mercy: Lex Luthor's assistant.

Dick expected Sportsmaster to be relieved; he and Luthor were buddies last time he checked. Mercy was obviously here to help Sportsmaster ship Robin off to Bruce. So when he saw that Mercy's arm had turned into a gun—and that gun was pointing at Sportsmaster—he was a bit stunned.

"I shouldn't be surprised," Sportsmaster chuckled lowly. "Let me guess: That sniper is for me too."

 _This is my chance._ Mercy was about to have a shootout with Sportsmaster, and whoever that sniper was, they were here for Sportsmaster. If Dick wanted a chance to steal his freedom, this was it.

He waited for Sportsmaster to lunge at Mercy before he dodged to his right and ran towards the boat. While he was running, he glanced up at the hilltop to see if that light reflected off the sniper's rifle. It didn't, so he made an assumption: the sniper was on his way down to finish the business. Calculating the distance to be one mile, it would take the sniper four minutes to make the run. That gave him approximately two minutes remaining before the sniper would become a concern.

He ducked behind another shipping crate and held his ribs, gasping in pain. He could worry about that later. First, the boat.

 _Meow._

Dick glanced over to the side and saw a cat that was more like the size of a dog. This wasn't just any cat.

He jumped back one step just in time to miss the red energy that had been sent his way.

"You have **got** to be kidding!" Robin snapped. A new contender had just entered the battle, and that was the Witch Boy Klarion. "Aren't you here to kill Sportsmaster too?"

"Yeah," Klarion smiled. "I think Mercy and Deathstroke have it under control though. He may have to die, but you need to be delivered to Luthor."

"Go take care of business with Sportsmaster then…I'll be here when you come back."

"I'm not a fool, dweeb," Klarion laughed. "You won't be staying here unless you're unconscious." The red energy glowed around his right hand. Before Robin could react, he saw it heading right towards his head.

Klarion saw the energy hit Robin and laughed wickedly. The sidekick immediately fell backwards, off the concrete dock and into the water. Whoops, looks like he hit him too hard. Luthor wouldn't be angry if he brought Robin back dead, would he?


	12. Chapter 12: Rescue

Chapter Twelve: Rescue

Cold. Hot. Suffocating. Relieving. Those were the paradoxical feelings that Robin experienced as he felt his body drift deeper into the water. His whole body felt lighter in the water, but heavier in the fact that he was sinking. He could force himself to kick or move his arms or something to get himself back up to the surface. That would have been great, except for the fact that he knew what was waiting for him up there.

And when he tried to move, he didn't have the strength to make the necessary push.

He was drowning whether he wanted to or not.

Well, maybe that wasn't bad in its own way. He'd no longer be a pawn in Luthor's game, and maybe Bruce could escape whatever deal he was making with that devil. And this way, his worst fear—the fear he had nightmares about for the past week—wouldn't come true.

Suddenly there was an arm wrapped around his lower stomach. His body was suddenly growing closer to the light—closer to the surface that he had broken through a minute ago.

When his head hit the air, he found himself gasping for breath. His chest ached with the heaves and he was certain that he would throw up if he only had food in his system. Throwing up was one of his least favorite things to do, and so he tried to refrain from it while glancing over to his left to see who still had their arm wrapped around his stomach.

It came as a surprise to him that it was Kaldur.

Someone had actually come. _Finally_ , someone had actually come to save him. His body weakened and he would have toppled face first into the water again if Kaldur hadn't lifted another hand and pulled him back towards him more.

"Well, isn't this an unpleasant surprise," the snooty voice of Klarion reverberated in Robin's ears. "Looks like the brats are here to save the day."

Dick opened his eyes and saw the witch boy staring at them with red energy glowing in his hand. But he also saw a yellow blur heading his way. Wally—Kid Flash—swept in and threw a punch right at the sorcerer. Before the punch could hit, Klarion switched his aim from the two in the water to Wally.

All according to plan, shockingly. Superboy came charging in from the other side and threw his own punch. The witch boy dodged again, but barely. The battle was pushed further away from Kaldur and Dick, so the two could get back up. Kaldur used his powers over water to lift both of them onto dry land. While Kaldur stood tall, Dick could hardly keep himself up on his knees.

Wally ran back over in that instant, looking at Dick with unmasked worry. "I'll run him-"

"We have to change our plans," Kaldur interrupted. "He is too fragile to cope with that speed. We must defeat our enemies and then transport him via the bioship."

"Where's Miss Martian?"

"Helping Artemis with Sportsmaster and Mercy."

"There's another," Robin breathed. Both of his friends looked at him with alarm. "A sniper…tried to take out Sportsmaster."

"He's not with us," Wally said. "Why would he kill Sportsmaster?"

"Luthor…wouldn't want anyone else knowing Batman's identity," Dick hypothesized as he tried to stand upright. He stood very slowly, and even after he was up, Wally had to move quickly to his side to help him stay that way. "But now…"

"Now the sniper will prioritize keeping you so that he may return you to Luthor," Kaldur inserted. "We understand. Kid, go find that sniper and neutralize him. I will keep Robin safe."

As much as Kid obviously wanted to argue, he knew now wasn't the time. He gently handed Robin off to Kaldur before he sped off to try and help things on the battlefield. While he was gone, Dick did a survey of the area. Mercy and Sportsmaster had both shifted their priorities to attack his friends instead, and Klarion was pounding Superboy with his magical energy.

"We can't win like this," Robin said aloud. He specifically focused on Miss M and Artemis, seeing the latter almost shoot an arrow towards M'gann. "Everyone's out of sync."

"Miss Martian could not establish a telepathic link for this battle," Aqualad responded. "We have grown to depend on it so much that we are now not working the best we could."

"She couldn't do a link?" Robin repeated.

"We are unsure why."

The answer dwelled in the back of Robin's fuzzy memories. "I was kept under. They used a g-gnome. It's still here." There was the answer. The g-gnome was still working to block any telepathic communication.

"Do you know where it is?"

"Sportsmaster left it behind. In a briefcase in my room." He could clearly picture the route it would take to get to that room. "I can-"

"No. You can hardly stand."

"I can help. Besides, the team is dying out here, Kaldur. If you don't jump in, we're going to lose."

Aqualad couldn't ignore the rational points. "How do you plan on doing this?"

"I'm winging it," Robin said bluntly. "Aren't we all?"

That evoked a bitter smile. "Indeed. I will make sure you get to the building safely. Once you are inside, it will be your responsibility."

"Got it."

"Are you ready?"

"Yeah."

"Then move."

*…*…*…*…*…*

Artemis didn't need a telepathic link or eyes on the whole battlefield to know that they were losing. She and M'gann weren't clicking right, Wally was nowhere to be seen, and Superboy's annoyed screams kept getting louder and louder. She let out her own cry as she swung her bow at her father, who blocked it with his arm before grabbing it and swinging the bow (and her) into a wall. She grunted in pain, reaching behind her for an arrow as she sat on the ground.

"Pathetic, Artemis," her father scolded in a tone darker than usual. "You came here to fight, and this is all you've got? You should have stayed away like Jade wanted you to."

"I'll **never** abandon my friend. Not like you abandoned us!" She pulled out an arrow and stabbed it into his leg, piercing it.

In return, he gave her a kick to the jaw.

"You don't have time to worry about that, slugger." He bent down and held her jaw in his hands, forcing her to look up at him while she knelt on the ground. "You can't save yourself, let alone your friend." Artemis looked past him and saw the robotic Mercy shooting towards the sky where Miss Martian was dodging everything. M'gann looked over at her, and all of a sudden, Artemis had an idea.

 _M'gann, switch!_ she mentally shouted. But then she felt like an idiot; the link was down for some reason.

Suddenly, Sportsmaster was in the air, and he was no longer gripping her jaw. She reached into her quiver for a specialized arrow, pulled it back on the bow, and launched it at Mercy.

The results were instantaneous. Electric sparks ran over the robot's body as the system began to shut down. "Water!" she shouted to M'gann.

This time, she understood the message completely. She reached out her hand and manipulated Mercy, picking her up and launching her into the water along with Sportsmaster.

Okay, so maybe she didn't get the message entirely. Artemis had only wanted Mercy in the water, not her dad.

When the electric Mercy touched the water, her circuits fried and her functions starting to shut down. Sportsmaster also got a small electric shock from being so close, but Artemis knew he'd live.

She panted a breath and looked at M'gann, who landed on the ground beside her. "That's one down," she said. Sportsmaster would come back up in a second. Kaldur and Conner were facing off against Klarion and Kid Flash was against some random man in black and orange. She hadn't seen him before, but she saw he was excellent at one-to-one combat. She felt an urge to run over and help, but there was a sudden thought in her mind. "How did you know to lift up Sportsmaster?"

"I heard you. You said 'switch.'"

"I didn't, though…I shouted it telepathically."

"The link is up!" Miss Martian gasped. " _Team, the link is up!"_

Tired cheers came over the link from Kaldur, Wally, and Conner.

It occurred randomly to Artemis that she hadn't seen a team member for a while. " _Kaldur, where's-"_

The door at the top of the stairs opened up. She aimed her bow and prepared to launch, but then she saw who it was. "Robin!" She ran to the stairs and reached the top in just a few seconds—not in time to catch him before he fell down to his knees. As soon as she was there, she wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

" _Robin found the g-gnome that was blocking our telepathic link,"_ Kaldur filled in. " _Is he unharmed?"_

" _He's in bad shape," Miss M responded. "Why didn't Kid Flash run him out of here?"_

" _He is too fragile. We need to transport him with the bioship."_

" _But we can't do that until this area's cleared up. Understood."_

The team had their exchanges and started formulating battle plans, but Artemis wasn't listening. Robin was in this state now, yet it was supposed to be her. She just wanted to hold him and take away all of the pain, but she couldn't.

"Artemis, I'm going to join the battle _,"_ M'gann stated aloud. "Stay here. Protect Robin."

"Got it."

And with that, Robin was sidelined again with a new bodyguard. Artemis took her responsibility seriously and drew an arrow onto her bow. She had the advantage; she was an archer on higher ground than anyone else. She could see the whole field. Superboy switched to battle the man they were later know as Deathstroke while Kaldur focused on containing Klarion. Even with two enemies left, the team was in a bad spot.

Still, Artemis knew her task. She aimed to support Kaldur by pointing her bow towards his battle. Klarion was a lord of chaos, not a natural resident of earth. In order to have a physical presence on this earth, he tied his soul to his cat—his familiar.

Artemis scanned the area for the cat but failed to see it. Klarion was smart enough to keep his familiar hidden now. The cat had to be somewhere close, because it could grow to be a fearsome beast and defend itself if Klarion was in a pinch. Now that it was 5 against 2, she had a feeling the familiar would appear.

A subtle growling came from atop one of the shipping crates. There was the cat, keeping an eye on the battle and staying out of sight of those on the ground. "Gotcha," Artemis muttered while pulling an arrow back on her bowstring.

An arrow pierced the cat.

Not her arrow.

Artemis started, turning her body to face where the arrow had come from. Someone had been standing on the roof of the warehouse and shot the cat before she could. When the figure jumped down, she wasn't surprised to see the person's identity. "Red Arrow," she greeted in surprise.

Roy Harper, Red Arrow, jumped down and landed next to her and Robin. He took in her confused look and scoffed. "You couldn't think I wouldn't hear about this," he stated with slight bitterness. "You guys should have called me. I would have helped."

"It was Batman's orders not to involve anyone else," she said honestly.

"Robin's my best friend," Roy snapped.

She could quibble with him all day long, but not in the middle of a battle. She looked at the cat and saw it lying there, screeching in pain as it was constantly electrocuted.

Down on the battle, Klarion's form began to flicker. She heard him whine about his defeat before he teleported to his cat. This was her chance to deal her own blow. With her bow still drawn, she aimed her arrow at the cat and shot.

A millisecond before it would have hit, the witch boy and his familiar disappeared.

"Ugh," she grunted as she put her bow away. Klarion would be back. Not today, but someday.

Roy knelt down next to Robin, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Robin, stay with us," he said with more sympathy than Artemis had ever heard in his voice. She could see why he was being kind though; Dick really wasn't in a good spot.

" _Kaldur, we need to end this,"_ Artemis relayed to the team leader. " _Robin's fading. And Batman's waiting."_

" _I understand,"_ the team leader responded. " _But this last opponent will not go down without a fight._ "

Artemis shifted her gaze to that fight, seeing the man smack Kid Flash away with his long javelin pole. Superboy took a swing at him, but missed and was kicked back into a crate with enough force to make an indent.

As soon as he had some air to breathe, the stranger pulled out three small balls from his belt. They dropped to the ground and instantly exploded with cover smoke. Wally sped over and cleared the smoke with his rapid movement, but by then, the area was clear of both smoke and enemies. The mystery fighter was gone.

" _Should I go after him?"_ Kid asked telepathically.

" _Negative. Our first priority is Robin."_

Artemis put her bow away and turned to pick up her friend while M'gann called in the Bioship. However, Roy already had him in his arms, bridal style. Her heart sunk when she saw his body looking smaller and more fragile than she had ever seen before.

The whole team rushed up, all ignoring the random presence of Roy and staring at their friend.

"Robin," M'gann started tearfully. "I'm so sorry."

"Hang in there, dude," KF added.

"You did well staying alive," Kaldur praised. "Let us handle everything now."

"His heart's not beating right," Conner inserted to the whole group. "It's beating too hard."

"Miss Martian, where's the bioship?"

"Here." The ship appeared above them and a ladder also descended. "I'll lift Robin in." She flew up and gently handled Robin with her powers, lifting him up into the ship and into the medical bay.

The team started to climb, but Kaldur and Roy were the last two at the bottom. "You shouldn't have said that to him," Roy said to Aqualand. "You can't handle everything. He's still got to fight for his life."

"He knows that," Aqualad said. "Robin would never give up fighting."

Roy stared at him for a moment, conceded, and then climbed into the ship. Kaldur recalled the moment he had entered the water and seen Robin sinking down. Not fighting. Giving up on life. He prayed that Robin didn't really give up at that moment, and that he would keep fighting this long battle.

But his wasn't the only battle that was being fought. He climbed up into the ship and found a phone Batman had lent to him. There was only one number in it: a direct number to the office of Bruce Wayne. He called, heard Bruce answer it, and gave his message. "He is safe."

*…*…*…*…*…*

 _Five minutes earlier_

The meeting in Bruce's office took a long time. Before, when he asked for proof that Dick was alive, Lex let him speak to him briefly. If he was able to speak to him, that meant that the team hadn't gotten there yet. Assuming his calculations were correct, the team would have arrived within five minutes of that call, and with that in mind he concluded that they were twenty minutes into the rescue. They couldn't afford to take much longer; not with Lex starting to grow impatient.

It was fair; a person could only reread a contract so many times before it was considered to be stalling.

"I want to know more about how you plan to release my son," Bruce said again.

"Mr. Wayne," Lex said tiredly. He leaned back in his chair, arms folded across his chest as he stared at the businessman. "I've already said that I won't give you a time."

"Within the day."

"Yes, yes."

"At my manor."

"No. It was Sportsmaster who abducted Robin, and he will release Robin in a very public way. This is for your benefit as well so that no one else can potentially link the missing hero to your son. I trust you made a suitable excuse for him being away the past two weeks."

"I wish you would stop calling him that."

"Mr. Wayne, it doesn't matter what I call him. The fact of the matter is, I have your son and unless you sign that contract in front of you, you will not see him again."

"I should have known that you wouldn't be above extortion."

"This is far more than extortion," Lex said. "But, when opportunity arises…"

The phone on Bruce's desk began to ring. At that, Lex uncrossed his arms and sat forward. Bruce grimaced, looking at the caller ID. "It's my secretary. May I?"

"Of course, please."

Bruce picked up the phone and wore his best expression of annoyance. "Caroline, I firmly requested that…"

The voice on the other side of the line wasn't Caroline, and he knew that well before they spoke. Aqualad had a message for him. "He is safe."

"I see," Bruce responded. "Anything else?"

"Nothing that will not wait."

"Thank you, Caroline." Bruce hung up the phone and looked at the person across from his desk. Lex Luthor. The man who was behind Dick's abduction and this whole blackmail. It was both him and Sportsmaster who knew Robin's identity, but if he could manipulate Lex Luthor, then Lex could manipulate Sportsmaster.

Bruce folded the contract and put it inside his desk drawer. "Lex, we won't be making any deals today."

"I suppose that decision was made with that phone call?"

"It doesn't matter. The deal is off."

"Bruce." That was the first time in the meeting where Lex wasn't professional and refrained from calling him _Mr. Wayne._ A sign of annoyance, or cockiness, on his part. "I will assume that call stated that your son is safe. Congratulations. However, that doesn't change the fact that I know his identity and yours."

"You captured my son and found sensitive information on me that you now intend to use against me."

"You've already brought up that point at least three times this meeting. Your constant rephrasing won't change that it's true."

"I believe in compiling substantial evidence for the police when I need to." Lex looked both startled and confused as Bruce reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a pen. "This pen has been recording this entire meeting. You stated numerous times that you kidnapped my son and are extorting me through him."

Lex stared at the pen with widened eyes. "Yes…" He regained his composure and looked at the billionaire. "But I also stated numerous times that your son is Robin and that you are Batman. You agreed—"

"No. I never agreed to those outrageous statements. And if you are ever tried in a court, they will count these statements as the ravings of a madman—a man who is certainly no longer fit to run Lex Corps." When Lex didn't respond, he continued. "Perhaps they will investigate me and my son to ensure that you are not insane, but rest assured that they will never be able to prove I am Batman or that Dick Grayson is Robin. These foolish allegations will never be proved."

Lex stared a few moments longer as he took all of this in. He may have had the identity of Batman, but now Bruce had substantial blackmail on him. "But you would rather avoid all those investigations, wouldn't you, Mr. Wayne?"

"I believe it would be a waste of everyone's time. So, allow me to present a new deal: You and Sportsmaster will never reveal my identity or Dick Grayson's to the world. If you do, this tape will be released and we will go through a very lengthy legal process where you are convicted and sentenced for kidnapping my son and extortion."

"I believe…that's a fair deal."

Lex Luthor stood up, grabbing his briefcase as he walked towards the door. He stopped right in front of it. "Well played, Mr. Wayne."

He stepped out of the room.

As soon as he was gone, Bruce rose to his feet and grabbed his coat. He was ending his day in the office early. He needed to make it to the cave to meet the team when they arrived. He needed to see his son.

*…*…*..*…*…*

 **Author: As always, thanks for reading! And thanks go to The Best Guesst and Thatonebookworm for leaving review for Chapter 11. Hope you're all enjoying the story so far and that you'll stick around for me. I've hit a snag with chapters 14 and 15, but I'll push through it. The story as a whole is longer than I anticipated it being but that's just because the ideas keep coming and coming. So stick around, it's gonna be an exciting ride!**


	13. Chapter 13: Diagnosis

Chapter Thirteen: Diagnosis

They all knew that the bioship was fast, but they had never seen or felt it be pushed to the extent that it was that day. M'gann wouldn't let anyone else steer, despite the flight being several hours long. She said that she was the only one who could handle the bioship at this speed and keep it steady enough that it wasn't disturbing Robin unnecessarily.

Robin was back in the medical bay of the ship again, with only Kaldur and Wally back there with him. The room was too small for anyone else to be back there, so Roy, Artemis, and Conner sat in the front of the ship and listened as intently as they could. Conner could hear everything, but after a while, he didn't want to any more. Robin wasn't in good shape.

Kaldur was playing the medic—a role that he had due to some sorcery training in Atlantis and his ability to control water. As soon as they were in the ship, Robin was gasping for air and saying he was having a hard time breathing. That mystery was quickly resolved when they removed his shirt and saw his badly bruised chest. Many of his ribs were broken, and the swelling from those injuries had been contained by his thick top. Now that he was free of it, he was in even more agony.

Wally gripped Robin's shoulder tightly, partly to keep him down on the mat and partly to support himself as he wrestled with the fear and heartache of seeing his best friend cry in agony. Kaldur used his water manipulation to make some ice and keep it on Robin's wounds. Even with that comfort and the dehydration, Robin was nearly sobbing in pain.

That was his state for the first three hours.

Then they were back at the cave. Batman (in costume) was waiting along with a woman that several members of the team recognized: Doctor Leslie Thompkins. She knew of Batman's identity and sometimes provided medical care for Bruce and Dick whenever their injuries were too severe. This was one of those times.

Conner and Roy picked up the ends of the stretcher Dick was on while Wally stayed right by Dick's side and held his hand. Artemis trailed behind, and M'gann and Kaldur were even further behind due to exhausting themselves on the flight. It hardly mattered what any of them did, because Robin was immediately whisked back to the medical room and Bruce and Dr. Thompkins were left alone with Robin.

That left the rest of the team with the task of waiting. Again.

They all collapsed on the chairs outside the medical bay in their full uniforms and sat there. Within a few minutes, the team began to grill Kaldur and Wally.

"How was he?"

In pain.

"What were his most severe injuries?"

Broken ribs. The contained swelling made it hard for him to breathe.

"Were you able to alleviate his pain at all?"

I do not know.

"Will he be okay?"

Nobody bothered answering that one at all. After that question, everyone fell into their own thoughts and stared at the wall, the door, the floor—whatever they stared at, they stared so intently that they began to lose track of the passing time and of their surroundings.

Red Tornado eventually arrived, and so did Black Canary. They asked the team for an update and they didn't have one, so they went into the room themselves. Being an android, Red Tornado didn't have the capability of showing any facial expressions and even if he did, he wasn't human enough to react the way everyone else would have. Black Canary, though, came out pale and trembling slightly.

"Robin will be fine," she told the team shortly. She then promptly made an excuse that she needed to go back to the scene to see if they could capture any of the bad guys. Tornado followed before he could tell the team any more specific details.

Hours later, everyone was still outside the room, but everyone changed into more casual clothes. Wally had a snack in his lap too—trail mix. He was only eating because with his metabolism, he had to eat regularly.

Doctor Leslie came out eventually, and she took a seat along with the team. Batman stayed inside with Robin as she spoke in a quiet voice.

"Robin is stabilized and healing," she said calmly to the team. "Batman is staying with him right now. He asked me to come out and give you a full summary of Robin's injuries." After the team nodded, she began to rattle off her list.

"Starting from minor to most serious, we have bruising on his wrists and ankles. He must have been strapped down with iron or some kind of metal straps on his limbs. The next issue is dehydration and malnutrition. There are impressions of needles on his arms, and that says to me that his captors were giving him some supplements to keep him functioning but it was not a healthy amount for Dick.

"Then there are the more serious issues. I'm running a blood analysis right now, but the biggest likelihood right now is that Dick was given a high dose of a fear toxin. He also seemed to have been sedated somehow…"

It was Kaldur who spoke up. "Robin stated that there was a g-gnome at the site. They are telepathic creatures who might have been able to induce that level of sedation."

"That does fill in some gaps," Dr. Leslie nodded. "I'll be acting under the premise that that's the truth until Robin is coherent enough to tell me otherwise. He was mumbling something about an antidote, and he may have already been given one. That will be revealed when the blood analysis is done in twenty minutes. If he was exposed to the fear toxin and sedated for nearly a week and a half…well, it's hard to imagine what kind of strain that will have on his mental health.

"The biggest physical issue is his chest cavity. I heard he was having difficulty breathing, and that was because he has five broken ribs on his right side and three broken on his left. Two others are bruised and one is a very minor fracture. These injuries started to swell as soon as they occurred, but his tight uniform prohibited his body from doing the healing it immediately wanted to do. Now that he is topless and has cooling pads, he can breathe more freely and the pain is less extreme."

"How is his pain being treated?" M'gann asked softly.

"I'm giving him everything I can to alleviate the pain. He's on a number of medicines right now: IVs are inserted to give him hydration and nutrition and another one is to take away some of the pain. Even then I'm limited on what pain medications I can give him. This connects back to the mental strain I mentioned earlier…Robin refuses to be sedated despite the extreme pain."

"Can we see him?" That question came from Wally.

"Batman wasn't sure that would be the best idea…He's concerned that Robin may be embarrassed by his fragility."

"He thinks we'll be worried," Artemis filled in.

"Well, we are," Roy responded. "And if he sees that, it might upset him. We don't want to risk hurting him worse."

Everyone was surprised to see Roy speak like that; he was a hardened, go-it-alone fighter who seemed more concerned about proving himself than anything else. To see him so concerned over Robin was shocking yet touching.

"Don't look so surprised I have a heart," Roy said with an arched brow. "Robin's a friend—a good friend. Why else would I come back?"

"Touching," Artemis said with a slight smirk.

That, however, was as much as she or any of them could bear with the current circumstances. They could sit outside Robin's room as long as they wanted, but it wasn't going to change anything. What he needed was rest and privacy. Once he was more stable, then they could all work together to figure out what he needed emotionally from his friends.

Until then, they reasoned it was best to get some rest themselves. That way, they could be awake and ready for the moment Robin needed them.

All of them went to their quarters, but not one slept that night.

In the medical bay, things were actually different. The Dark Knight was used to staying up late many, many nights. During the day, he was businessman Bruce Wayne. During the evening/early night, he was playboy Wayne. At the darkest hours of the day, he was Batman: Gotham's protector. That kind of lifestyle was very demanding on the body and taxing on the mind. He learned to live on three or four hours of sleep each night. It wasn't anything extraordinary anymore; it was just how things were.

That night in the medical bay, Bruce took off the mask and held Dick's hand while his adopted son breathed with the help of a mask. He was awake for the first hours while Dick was being stabilized and while Dr. Thompkins was doing her work. Eventually though, Dick's breathing evened out and that hand that was in his relaxed. It was at this point that both mentor and mentee were asleep, exhausted in every way possible but finally back together.

*…*…*…*…*…*

 **Author: A shorter chapter I know, but it just feels right. Hopefully the next chapter will be out sooner; I feel bad just giving you one short chapter a month. Feel free to leave comments and such. Thanks for reading and for reviewing!**


	14. Chapter 14: Return

Chapter Fourteen: Return

It was another waiting game. That seemed like all the team could do these days. It had been six days since Dick was rescued from Sportsmaster and Lex. Everything from then on had been falling into place, sort of. There was a brief scare that Robin had pneumonia because of injuries to his chest and exposure to the cold, but he was bouncing back. That was the friend they knew; Robin always bounced back.

However, they couldn't see that with their own eyes. Bruce took Dick back home and had Dr. Thompkins caring for him there instead of at the cave. That put him out of their reach, because if a bunch of random teenagers showed up at Bruce Wayne's house at a time like this, there would be suspicions raised.

The media had taken an interest in where Dick Grayson was and why he wasn't at school for three weeks. The answer Bruce gave was simple: Dick wanted to go see Haly of Haly's Circus. He wanted to reconnect with his past and speak to a man who had been close to his parents. After that, Bruce and Dick went spelunking to work off the tension and Dick hurt himself. Bruce politely asked the media not to investigate further, due to the fact that Haly's Circus was a very sensitive matter to both him and Dick. So sensitive in fact, that Dick was going to stay home longer to recuperate emotionally and get caught up on the schoolwork he missed before he returned to society.

So far, there was no more pressure from the media or from Lex Luthor. He went back to his business as if nothing happened. Sportsmaster had escaped them that day, but he didn't reveal anything to the world either. It was all coming to a close.

Only to Conner, it didn't feel like that at all. It felt like a bitter beginning.

Ever the observer, he saw everyone that week and how they were coping. Wally was spending a lot of time with Artemis whether she liked it or not. He played it off as wanting to flirt with her all the time, but Conner saw paranoia shining in Wally's eyes whenever Artemis was out of sight. Yeah, she could protect herself—they all knew that. Still, nobody was taking any risks since she had been the original target.

Artemis was still carrying the guilt of that. Conner noted that whenever she had a moment, she was checking with Black Canary to see if there were any updates on Sportsmaster, or Luthor, or anyone else who may have been involved in this whole thing. The answer was always "no."

M'gann wasn't in the cave often. She was off at cheerleading practice, or with her uncle for further training. She wanted to be stronger so that nobody else would have to go through this again.

Even Roy and Kaldur were startled by the whole thing. Roy stuck around and sat with Kaldur a lot, talking in hushed tones about the long recovery Robin had in front of him. And then they would suddenly get up and start sparring, either to become stronger or to take out their mutual frustrations.

Conner had his frustrations. He was the clone of Superman, yet he had a fraction of his power. Superman had the power to save the day against any odds. He was a shield and sword for his friends. If Conner was as dependable as Superman, Robin never would have suffered that kind of abuse.

He was angry at his own weakness. He wanted to fight to make the anger go away, but he wasn't the same person he used to be. He fully recognized that if he got in a fight with one of his friends like Kaldur or Roy, he'd wind up hurting them in his fury. That was why he often sparred with Black Canary. Though she was human, he knew that she could handle his fists. And then after the fight, they would sit down and talk. Sometimes it was about his feelings of inadequacy and failure. Other times, it was how the team was coping. But mostly, it was about Robin, who hadn't reached out to any of them since the incident.

That day, Canary wasn't around. It was right around supper time and even though some people had families to eat with, the whole team found themselves at the cave. A part of them hoped that Batman would come by and give them an update.

It didn't come during dinner. After dinner, Kaldur and Artemis were sparring while the rest of the crew watched in silence.

"Recognize: Robin. B01."

All their eyes darted to the zeta portals. After the light dulled, they could all see him. The first thing to note was that he didn't have his mask on or sunglasses to mask his identity; there wasn't a point in that anymore since the whole team knew his identity. Even Roy found out the truth when someone (Wally) accidentally said his real name one day.

The second thing they all noted was his appearance: He did look different in street clothes, but he was noticeably frailer than he was before. And he was always such a tiny thing.

Nobody wanted to be the first to ambush him, and so they sat or stood dumbfounded.

"Don't look so cheerful," Dick called jokingly as he approached the group. "Don't I get a proper hello?"

"Dick," M'gann whispered. She ran over to him and wrapped him in a gentle embrace. It was obvious she was relieved he was both physically present and able to crack a joke. After her ambush, Artemis came over and joined the hug. They were both tearing up as they held onto their smaller friend with the appropriate tightness.

When they released Dick, the whole team was there. The boys were more hesitant to give physical contact, but Wally dared to set a hand on his best friend's shoulder. "Good to see you, dude."

"Yeah, good to see you guys too."

They all noticed how he seemed a little breathless. His chest cavity obviously wasn't fully healed, and the damage he sustained made it hard for him to breathe.

"We should all go to the lounge," Kaldur offered. "M'gann made cookies."

"By the hundreds," Conner said with a straight face. That was no joke he made, so that simple statement of the truth made them all laugh—except for Robin, who could hardly breathe, let alone laugh.

"Sounds great," Dick agreed. "Let's go."

*…*…*…*…*…*

The whole team sat in the lounge, sprawled out across couches and floors. Wally had turned on the Playstation and was playing a game with Artemis, all the while showing Dick the sick moves he taught her recently.

That conversation was just one attempt to restore normality to the group. Roy knew it and so did everyone else, including Dick. Roy may not have had the therapy sessions with Black Canary, but she still gave her advice to everyone: Whenever Dick returned to the cave, it wasn't their job to find out what happened to him or ask him how they could help. Not immediately, anyway. It was their job to be his friend and to treat him the same way they always did.

But that was easier said than done, because everyone's treatment of him was so over the top that it was obvious they were all still thinking about him and the trauma he experienced.

Even Roy, who jumped on board late, couldn't help pondering everything. So far, they had few answers. Dick gave Batman general answers with no specifics. His story? He and Artemis were ambushed and he was taken. They gave him fear toxin and kept him under with a g-gnome to see what kind of effects the toxin had on his mental state. He was sedated for almost two weeks before Sportsmaster woke him up, gave him the antidote, and he was saved.

That was a pretty short story for a guy who was kidnapped for two weeks.

There was more to it and they all knew it. The doctor said he suffered some mental trauma, because when they first brought him back, he refused to be sedated. And when he looked at him earlier, he was obviously exhausted. Roy hadn't looked over at him in a while because he wanted to save him from the onslaught of stares, but he glanced over then and saw a surprising sight: He was already asleep on the couch.

Everyone else was so busy acting lively for Robin's sake that they didn't even notice he was passed out. He grabbed the TV remote and shushed everyone, ordering them softly to "be quiet." They all followed his gaze and saw Dick asleep and understood. The video game was turned off, the lights dimmed, and the crew sat around the U shaped area on their seats.

"Well, here we are," Wally said quietly. They all wanted to speak, but none of them knew what to say.

"It was a nice surprise for him to stop in," M'gann agreed at the same volume.

"He probably wanted to come as soon as possible. He knows he had us worried," Artemis said.

"We're right to be worried though…He looks terrible. And I'm not just talking about physically." Roy was the one who said it, and even if he was a bit blunt, everyone agreed with his stance.

The silence that fell over the room after that was tense.

"So what do we do?" Conner finally asked. "You know he's not going to want to talk about it."

"There is nothing we can do…except continue to be here. Robin will speak when he is ready."

That was true. A while back, after M'gann hijacked a training simulation and the whole team went into therapy with Black Canary, Robin opened up. He was good at sharing his problems when he was ready to. Now it was just a matter of waiting.

Again.

Waiting.

*…*…*…*…*…*

Black Canary had her work cut out for her. That's what she always thought whenever she was put into a situation like this one. She loved her team; the teens were often wise beyond their years and capable of handing the hardships that were thrown at them. They could throw their fists like adults but at the end of the day, their hearts were still childlike.

Even Robin, who had a tragic past with losing his family, was still a child in her eyes. The prodigy of Batman, the boy wonder…He was the victim of a terrible crime this time around, and it was her job to walk him through it.

After a week and a half of being back, Dinah had hoped that Robin would come to her requesting a session. But he didn't. She had to hunt him down.

And that was what placed them in the "therapy room." It was just the two of them. Batman was welcome to join them, but he thought that Dick might try to tone things back if he were in there with him.

"Robin," Canary began quietly. "Thanks for coming." It was polite small talk; they both knew he didn't have a choice in the matter.

"Yeah. Sure." His tone was unreadable for once.

"At this point, I think it may be best to jump right into it. Can you tell me what happened during those two weeks?"

"I already told Batman. And the team."

"Yes, I know," she said soothingly. "But speaking about it helps. You know how it helped you before as you wrestled with the reality of a situation."

"I don't have to wrestle with this. I already know what happened."

This tone was totally unlike Robin. It was so argumentative. Defiant.

"If you don't want to discuss it, what do you want to talk about?"

"I don't want to talk about anything. I don't need therapy."

"Robin…" She leaned forward on her seat. "…You're not alright."

"Never said I was. But I'm dealing."

"How? How can you deal with the fact that you were drugged and sedated for thirteen days?"

His left eyebrow twitched at that comment. However, he kept his mouth shut and just stared at his counselor. It was rare for anyone to actually see his eyes—he used to wear the mask or sunglasses. But now Canary could actually see his face without any obstructions and what she was hardness. A wall was erected and it wouldn't be coming down in one therapy session.

Black Canary leaned back in her chair and nonchalantly crossed her arms over her chest. "We can either discuss all that, or you can choose something else for us to talk about. Which do you prefer?"

He pondered it, but only for a second. "Tell me about Lex Luthor."

"What do you want to know?"

"How did Batman persuade him to stay quiet? Is he really going to stay silent?"

"It was blackmail with a recording of Luthor saying he kidnapped you. And I do think he's going to keep his mouth shut. Not just anybody can cross Batman."

"And Sportsmaster?"

"In the wind for now. But the threat against you is over. Neither of them will have a chance to get close and even if they did, they crossed Batman. That doesn't bode well for either of them."

"Is he hunting them right now?"

Silence.

"Black Canary," Robin said more firmly.

"This is a conversation you should have with him."

"He's not hunting them," he realized. He grasped at his armrests and stared at the ground. "I knew it."

"They have threatening knowledge. If we were to push them…" They both knew what could happen. One of them could take a risk and reveal the identities of at least Batman and Robin. There was no telling what other facts they extracted from Robin's mind while he was connected to that g-gnome. That was why Canary had another proposal ready for when Robin was in a better mental state. They would have to discern what was taken by having M'gann or her uncle dive into Dick's mind to see what he thought over during that time.

However, that was the same as making him relive it. There was no way they could inflict that on him right now, even with their identities still at risk.

"I think that's good for today," Robin declared. He rose to his feet without waiting for a response. Whatever the response was, he obviously wasn't going to be swayed by it. Canary called after him that they would meet again tomorrow, but he was already halfway out the door when she said it.

Yeah, she had her work cut out for her.

*…*…*…*…*…*

 **Author: Holy comments Batman, I got a few replies this time! :o Thanks to Beautiful Knight, Red Blaze 16, and whoevenareyou for your comments. Red Blaze, I currently have three chapters beyond this one set in stone, and I'm not sure how many more I'll do beyond that. It all depends on inspiration and time. I have ideas for how to draw the story out further, but if I don't feel confident I can complete it, then I'll stick with my simpler path. At this point plan for at least 20 chapters in the story.**

 **Hopefully with the summer, I'll be able to update more frequently. Thanks for following the story so far!**

 **Peanut**


	15. Chapter 15: Spinning

Chapter Fifteen: Spinning

It was hard to believe that the world truly did keep spinning no matter what the tragedy was. Dick learned that a long time ago with the deaths of his family, but somehow this was different. Time flowed differently after he witnessed his entire family fall and three of them die on location. The time between that and his uncle's suicide jumped between agonizingly slow and shockingly fast.

But this one was different. Time didn't just go fast—it completely disappeared. That time that he was under was gone and it was never coming back. Yet that time was what was killing him. He had the dreams of his friends' deaths, his family's deaths, and his biggest fear that he would be alone forever. Everyone believed that time healed wounds, but it was his belief that it only caused them to grow.

And yet he couldn't make himself talk about it. Talking about it would make it even more real than it already was. This was the same way that he initially grieved the loss of his family. Bruce was around during that time, and so Dick had no doubt that Bruce recognized this behavior. It was one reason that Bruce wasn't pushing too hard to find answers; he knew that eventually Dick would crack and tell what happened, but at the same time, he knew the brokenness that would come out of that moment. He didn't want to trigger any more brokenness.

It was two weeks since it happened. Black Canary had two therapy sessions with him, but he didn't open up in either one. He asked for details about Luthor and Sportsmaster, about the team and any missions they had coming up. Things were quiet in the world of the super-criminals, so there wasn't any work for the team. Dick was selfishly relieved that his friends weren't out there where they could get hurt, but also mad at himself for thinking that way. All that this meant was that the bad guys were still doing their evil quietly and getting away with it.

Maybe the Justice League was having more luck with everything. Four days ago, Batman said that he was going away on a league mission and that he would be back in a day or two. Well, obviously that wasn't the case since he still wasn't back.

That was one other topic Dick brought up in his most recent conference with Black Canary. He wanted to know where Batman was, what he was doing, who he was with, and when he'd be back. He felt like an uptight parent asking about it, yet he felt like a child with how Canary responded to him. She gave him basic answers: He was doing some detective work with Green Arrow and he would be back as soon as he finished.

Dick couldn't handle how Canary was treating him. It was like she just saw him as broken and in need of healing. She couldn't see that maybe he was broken, but he was still Dick Grayson—still Robin. And Robin was able to put emotion to the side and get down to business when it really mattered. That was why he entered the Batcave by himself the past two days to pick up any leads Bruce may have left behind about his location and what he was doing.

Nobody on the team knew, because they were in the same mindset as Canary. Even Wally, his best pal outside the costumes, was treating him like he was fragile. So on a Wednesday night, Dick Grayson donned his Robin costume in the silence of the Batcave. There was no fanfare, no celebration of a return. His friends wouldn't have rejoiced and they certainly wouldn't have approved. Dick wasn't medically cleared to be Robin yet. His ribs were healing well, but it still hurt to move and breathe.

The costume didn't help. It was so tight around his chest and it compressed the whole area. Just being in it reminded him of how he was hyperventilating as his friends rescued him that day. He wanted to rip it off his chest and feel free to breathe, but his desire to find Batman and make sure he was safe overcame that strong desire. _I gotta find him. I gotta know he's okay. I need to know he's not…_ Not dead.

"Master Dick, what are you doing?"

Alfred's voice made him jump. He should have heard him there in the Batcave with him. He should have known he wouldn't get away unnoticed.

"I'm going to find Batman," Dick responded evenly. "It's been four days. He should have been back by now."

"He has Green Arrow with him," the butler assured Dick. "And this isn't the first time he's been gone longer than anticipated."

"You sound like Black Canary," Dick muttered to himself.

"Black Canary is a wise mentor. Surely if there was reason to worry, she would be with them." Even Alfred knew that Canary and Arrow had a thing for each other—not that that was a huge secret.

"Bruce made a promise to be back, and he's not. So I'm going to make sure he's okay." He paused briefly. "I'm following him to Central City." Alfred's expression was unreadable at that moment, as was Dick's. If Alfred knew where Batman was, his facial expression didn't confirm it or deny it. And Dick was stone-faced too as he gave that blatant lie to Alfred. Batman wasn't in Central City and he knew it. But this was a test to see if Alfred would be loyal to him or not. "I know you don't agree with my choice, but just give me one day. If I'm not back in one day, you can call the team."

The butler stared at him for a few moments longer. "I shall eagerly await your return, Master Dick."

The lack of commitment on Alfred's part didn't go unnoticed. Oh well, it didn't matter. Dick was going whether he had Alfred's loyalty or not. He walked over to his motorcycle and turned it on. The vibrations of the bike unsettled his core, but he grew accustomed to it. Within moments, he had his helmet on and was speeding out of the Batcave.

A few hours later, he was riding into Star City. This was the city that Green Arrow and Speedy used to do together. And since Dick was a friend of Roy, he grew pretty familiar with the city and Arrow's hideouts throughout that time. Plus, being a detective didn't hurt anything. If Batman was here, he and Arrow were probably at this old cement factory that was much more than that: it was actually one of Green Arrow's lairs. Dick took a guess and decided to head there first.

Truthfully, he wasn't sure if he'd be right about this. If they just wanted to talk, there were better places they could do it. But Roy was gone from the cave and if he was a part of this, they weren't going to have any discussions on the Watch Tower. This was as good a place as any.

 _Arrow, I'm suddenly glad Batman isn't in charge of your security,_ Dick thought to himself as he finished climbing the building and landed on the roof of it. It was easy enough to avoid all the cameras and even easier to plug his own USB into one and turn off any alarms before they even went off to warn Arrow of the hack. Within seconds, he had the feed from the whole camera system and saw every angle inside the hideout.

Relief immediately flooded his bones. There they all were: Green Arrow, Roy, and Batman. And they didn't have a scratch on them! He had been worried over nothing and he couldn't have been happier about that.

In just a moment, his happiness went away. A door opened in another part of the hideout and everyone jumped into defensive positions. They didn't need to though, since it was a friend. Kaldur had arrived.

"Aqualad, what are you doing here?" Green Arrow asked as he lowered his bow.

"Batman, I thought I should report this to you in person," Kaldur replied, looking to the team's mentor. "Alfred called me approximately an hour ago to say that Robin followed your trail to Central City. He is there now, looking for you."

"In his condition?" Arrow asked in horror.

Batman lifted a hand to silence Arrow's concerns, keeping his focus on Kaldur instead. Through the camera and looking at the mask, Robin saw nothing but stoicism. This calm that Batman had was his typical calm. _You'd think he'd be worried enough to show a little emotion,_ Dick thought, though his thoughts were interrupted in a moment.

"I'll return to Gotham and trust that Robin will too after he realizes I'm not in Central City."

"How did your search go here?" Aqualad dared to ask.

"Completely fruitless, which is good. Sportsmaster hasn't made contact with any members of the League of Assassins here."

"But there's still more work to be done," Roy finally said. "The league has other moles, and Sportsmaster is likely to reach out to Cheshire."

"Cheshire helped us find Robin. I doubt she and Sportsmaster are on good terms right now. Besides that…" Kaldur glanced from Roy to Batman. The implication was obvious enough, but he opened his mouth and spoke anyway. "Robin cannot be allowed to know that a threat still lingers. He cannot be brought into this danger."

"I'll go," Batman conceded.

Dick pulled the equipment away from the camera and restored it to what it was before. A flurry of emotions filled his heart. The team didn't say anything he didn't already figure out. Of COURSE there was still a threat! Of course Sportsmaster could be reaching out to the League and telling them the secret. He wasn't an idiot and he didn't appreciate everyone treating him like he suddenly lost all of his detective abilities.

What ticked him off more though was how Alfred betrayed him. He made a small request—that he be allowed to go out and return within a small frame of time. Alfred didn't let that happen. Not only did he tip of Kaldur, but he also may have told him where Batman was in the first place. If Alfred knew that whole week—if he just watched Dick panic those days and didn't offer him any comfort to how Bruce was doing…

Although maybe he was giving Alfred too much credit. Maybe he didn't know where Bruce was. But Kaldur must have to have arrived here. And that led back to the same problem. Everyone knew how scared he was when his friends and family were out of sight. They didn't know why, but that didn't matter. They let him suffer this week to "protect him" from an obvious truth.

 _I am so sick of being treated like an idiot. And I'm so sick of people yanking me around with all their secrets._ However, no matter how upset he was, he didn't let it cloud his judgment. He wanted to get away from this building, but he would wait until he was sure everyone was gone. It took several hours of just laying flat on the roof and staring at the stars. His whole body went stiff from the lack of movement; he couldn't deny that he was still injured. He just didn't care.

The sun was just starting to rise when he climbed down the building and walked the distance to where his bike was hidden. By the time he reached it, he already had a destination in mind. It wasn't home—he was too ticked off at Alfred and Bruce to go there. And it was for that same reason that he decided to avoid the cave.

There was one other place that he thought of as safe, and that was where he rode to. Along the way, he sent a text through the team system: "I need to go out for a few days alone. I'm fine." The first part was true, but the second was not. Physically he could put up with the strain, but emotionally he felt himself starting to unravel. The safest place to unravel was the same place that broke him in the first place.

Dick pulled up to Haly's Circus, which had stopped just outside of Philadelphia for a few days in the tour. Of course, he hid himself and changed out of his Robin gear and put on street clothes before he actually approached the tent. He shoved his hands in his pockets and casually approached the ticket stand, which already had a small line since the first show of the day was starting in just half an hour.

The ticket-master recognized Dick immediately. "Do my eyes deceive me? Dick Grayson?" Joey the ticket master stepped out from behind his set and gave the boy a hug. "Goodness you've grown. When's the last time you were here? Two years ago?"

It was a lot more recent than that; Dick and his team had helped Haly's Circus when Parasite was framing them for a bunch of crimes. Obviously Joey didn't know that though. "It's been a while," Dick conceded as he returned the man's familial hug. "How are things?"

Joey broke off the hug and looked Dick in the eye, a look of exasperation and relief on his face. "Great now that we're stateside. You wouldn't believe me if I told you everything happening on the European tour."

 _Oh yes I would._ "Well, glad to hear things are good now. I haven't watched the show in a while, so I figured I'd buy a ticket."

"You're not buying anything. Just go in and grab a seat! The VIP section is always open for you."

"Thanks, Joey. Catch you later."

"Later, Dick."

As Dick walked into the tent, he saw things exactly as he remembered. It didn't take much since he was just there a few weeks ago and Haly was a creature of habit. The bigtop tent had hardly changed since his Flying Grayson days, minus some safety upgrades. Every piece of equipment also went through a thorough inspection before each and every show. Tony Zucco may not have threatening circuses anymore, but that didn't mean others couldn't do it.

Dick walked over to the VIP seats on the ground level. A flashback took him over as soon as he was sitting down. The night that his whole family was killed, he had been sitting in the crowd, in the VIP seats. Sitting there, he could almost see the act happening in front of him again. The Graysons had been so graceful and on the top of their game. Yet there was nothing they could do to combat a rope that had been sawn through. He watched them fall. He heard the piercing scream from the audience…

"Dick? Good to see you, son!" Haly's presence right next to him startled him out of the memory. The ringmaster was already in his gear and ready for the show.

"Hey, Haly," Dick greeted with a fragile smile.

"I didn't expect to see you back so soon."

Back when Dick and his team were helping Haly, they called themselves the Daring Dangers. His name was Dan during that mission, but Haly saw right through that. There was no point in Dick denying that Haly knew exactly who he and his friends were.

"Just wanted to see how things were going after that whole thing."

"Yeah, bein' framed for all those crimes was one of my more trying times as the circus master. But we've managed to come out of it." Haly paused, taking a deep look at the young man. "I don't think that's the only reason you're here, though. You look frail, Dick. Are you okay?"

"…I have a hazardous job," he stated after just a moment. "And sometimes…it's heartbreaking. I just had to come back here. I had to see a show again." _I had to go back to my roots and build up from there,_ he added to himself.

Haly graciously nodded. "You're welcome to stick around and see as many shows as you need. For now, I have to prep the team. You'll stick around after the show?"

"Of course," he replied earnestly. "Good luck."

Haly gave him a tip of the hat and a wink before he headed towards the tent door to the "backstage."

In about twenty minutes, the show was up and running. And it was _incredible_. Each person perfectly balanced on their elephants' heads as they circled the area. The clowns were funny and delightful, not creepy like most circus clowns. The strong man did things that would even put Batman to shame. But the acrobats were what caught his attention.

They were a new team—young and fairly inexperienced. They called themselves the Fantastic Flyers. Five teens made jumps and worked together with each other in perfect harmony. Some of their moves may not have been perfectly graceful, but they supported each other at every turn and were smiling throughout the entire thing. They lived for these moments—the moments where they could soar freely yet safely with those that they loved.

Dick had had the same with his family before Zucco took it away. And in another light, he had had the same with his team before the fear toxin took it all away.

As he watched the team, he couldn't help the tear that slid down his cheek.

Everything was taken away from him. Again.

*…*…*…*…*…*

 **Thanks to Dumbledore19, Red Blaze 16, whoevenareyou, and Aquarica for the reviews! Red Blaze, I'm going to avoid answering your question either way because of spoilers. :P You'll have to wait and see! And whoevenareyou, I really wish I could give Dick a hug. But at the same time, I'm making him suffer in the story because angst is addicting.**

 **As always, keep reviewing and thanks for reading! I have 3 chapters done after this and I plan on working on the next chapter as soon as I post this one. I've got some momentum going at the moment and I don't want to lose it.**

 **Till next time,**

 **Peanut**


	16. Chapter 16: Alone

Chapter Sixteen: Alone

After the show was over, Dick found himself just sitting in the VIP seats. Everyone in the crowd funneled out and he just sat there, staring up at the acrobatics set. Pretty soon after that, the whole circus crew was out of the tent too; after every show, they would do some kind of special meal. Haly invited him to join them, but he said no. He just wanted to sit and stare off into space for a while.

A hand suddenly appeared on his shoulder. "Hey, Di—whoa!"

The reason for the exclamation was that as soon as Dick felt a hand on his shoulder, his reflexes kicked in. He grabbed the person's forearm and threw them to the ground in front of him, jumping to his own feet and putting one in the middle of the person's back while still holding one of the offender's arms. Dick's adrenaline was racing so much that it took him longer than it should have to recognize the person he had just made face plant into the ground.

It was Wally. Not Kid Flash; he was clothed in a red hoodie and jeans instead of his uniform. Just Wally.

"Okay, I obviously have nothing to worry about if your guard is up that much," Wally joked weakly. "But if you don't mind, Dick…"

The teen blinked and then released his friend. He wasn't going to apologize for being on guard. He had something else to say anyway. "What are you doing here? How did you find me?" He was sure he turned off any gear that could be used to track him. He hadn't scrambled where his text message came from, but that wouldn't have been enough information for anyone to find him.

Wally stood up, stretching and flexing his arm to undo any strain Dick just caused. "A few weeks ago, after your first dose of the fear toxin, I saw you practicing moves from your Grayson days. And I saw your fear when you fell that day. I took a guess and thought you might still be afraid…and, well…."

Sometimes Dick forgot how Wally could actually be in tune with a person's emotions. He was smart beyond belief, but when it came to emotions, Wally wasn't the person you wanted to lean on.

"I get that your text said you wanted to be alone, but nobody should be truly alone. I wanted to be here for you."

Even though Dick did want to be alone, he appreciated Wally's sentiment. A part of him was even willing to admit that he was right; he didn't truly want to be alone. "I've got a lot of fears to work through," Dick confessed quietly, electing to stare at the tight rope instead of his best pal. "And I thought this is as good a place as any to go to."

"And how's that going so far?"

The question was spoken with care, but Dick really didn't like the question—or the answer, for that matter. "I need more time," he said. "I can't go home yet. Not like this."

"And I can appreciate that," Wally said. "But what is it you're trying to accomplish here, Dick? How long is it before you can come home? You know everyone's worried."

"I can't control their worries…and I'm sorry to make them worry. But I need this. I'll stay here, sort some stuff out, and then I'll come home."

"Can I get an ETA, or…"

Dick sharply turned his head and looked over at him. "Could you stop asking me questions?" he snapped. "No, you can't get an ETA, and no, I can't even say what I specifically want to accomplish. I just…" He took in a deep breath to calm himself. "I have a feeling that I can heal here. Nothing against the team or anyone back home, but it's been a few weeks and I'm still in my slump. You guys can't help me. Not with this. But this place can somehow."

"How do you know?" Wally asked quietly.

It was another question, but Dick let it slide. "Intuition? No, that's not quite it…maybe faith. Haly's Circus shaped me growing up. Being here now can help shape me again."

Wally looked unhappy with the whole thing, yet he wisely didn't protest any more. "I want to stick around with you. I'll try to stop asking so many questions though." He smiled weakly and held out his hand. A peace offering.

"I'll accept that," Dick replied similarly. He held out his hand and shook Wally's, showing that everything was okay between the two of them. As much as he hated to admit it, Wally did have some valid points. How _was_ he going to find healing here? How long would it take?

He hoped that time would answer both those questions.

*…*…*…*…*…*

After two more days at the circus, Dick started to lighten up just a little bit. Seeing the shows helped, and so did having Wally with him. Wally would sit with him and ask lots of questions about each of the different acts and who was who, and who Dick knew from the past. He was glad to fill in a lot of those details. It was like finding puzzle pieces and putting them back together to make a cohesive, complete picture.

Putting the pieces back together. That was what he had to do now.

But it wasn't as easy as that. His heart was still heavy and torn. He didn't feel like talking to Wally any more would help, and he obviously wasn't going to reach out to anyone on the team or Batman after he ran off. None of them even texted him since he got here. He had no doubt that Wally texted them to say that Dick was safe, but he had faith that his pal didn't say more than that.

The one person who Dick thought could help him was Haly. He helped him cope with his family's deaths before, so he could help him with this too.

Haly had a small makeshift office tent outside. One afternoon, Dick went over and opened the door flap. "Haly, are you in?" he started to ask, though he soon had his answer. Haly was there, but he looked very startled as he sat at a brown table with a few papers on it. "Sorry," Dick immediately said. "Am I interrupting something?"

"N-no, of course not." Haly cleared his throat, straightening himself in his chair. "Please, come in, Dick."

Something seemed off, but Dick tried to ignore that as he stepped in and took a seat across from Haly. "That paperwork for the next stop?" Dick asked casually.

"Yeah…it's a pain, but I have a feeling that's not what you're here to talk about."

"No, I guess not," Dick agreed. He glanced off to the side and avoided Haly's patient gaze for just a few moments. He knew he had to talk, but he wasn't sure how to get there. Maybe it was best just to spit it out. "I guess it's about time for me to tell you why I really came to the circus again." He did want to see that they were okay after the Parasite business, but it was a lot more than that. Of course he couldn't just spit out everything about Luthor and Sportsmaster and fear toxins without freaking Haly out, so he'd have to do an abridged version. "I've been having a lot of nightmares lately. About my family."

"What do your nightmares look like?" Haly asked with caution.

"Exactly like that day. I'm sitting in the crowd, entranced and wishing that I could be flying with them. But then I notice that the rope is sawed through. I see them fall. Then I have scattered memories from the next few months of visiting my uncle in the hospital while he's paralyzed from the accident. I wasn't there when he committed suicide, but I dream of it anyway."

"That's…terrible. And you dream of that often?"

"Not that exact dream. After seeing it so often, I've learned to anticipate what was going to happen. So in my dream, I would sit in my seat and watch it even knowing that the rope was going to snap. But I couldn't stop it, no matter what. Once or twice I'd stand up and yell, but the crowd would cheer too loudly for anyone to hear me."

"I see…why do you think that you're having these dreams all of a sudden?"

Telling him about the fear toxin was out of the question. "I don't know," he lied.

"Dick." Haly leaned forward, clasping his hands in front of him on the table. "I may not know much about the life that you lead, but I know enough to realize that's not true. You wouldn't get these nightmares unless something caused it."

He had a point there. "There's some people using it against me. Blackmail, I guess."

"I see." Haly didn't seem happy with the answer, but apparently he was happy enough with it that he wouldn't pursue the topic any further. "Well, I'm sure you had these dreams before, right after it happened."

"All the time."

"So how did you recover then?"

 _By becoming Robin._ That was part of the answer. Tony Zucco took away his family, and even though he never caught Zucco, he caught others like him. Bringing people to justice helped him justify what happened—to find meaning in the suffering. He suffered so that he could become Robin and fight crime. That was enough on some days. On the days where it wasn't enough, he had Bruce. "You know how Bruce Wayne took me in after it all happened?" Dick started. After a nod from Haly, he continued. "He lost both of his parents in a tragedy. Sometimes just being in the same room as him was enough to comfort me. It showed me that the heartache wasn't going to kill me."

"But now the heartache's back, and you're not sure anymore," Haly said softly.

"I know that I'll survive. It's not about that. You know, after everything that happened, my biggest fear was that Zucco would find me and kill me. I was able to cope with that because of people like Commissioner Gordon and Bruce. They made me feel safe. My fear of dying went away after a while. But this time…" He trailed off since he wasn't sure exactly where he was going with this train of thought. He wasn't afraid of dying. Being Robin, he always knew that he could die. It wasn't about him. It was about everyone else.

"Dick?" Haly gently checked.

"I'm not afraid of dying," he repeated. "I'm afraid of everyone around me dying."

"That's an irrational fear." Haly's tone may not have been harsh (in fact it was the opposite), but Dick didn't appreciate his fears being put down.

"It's not," he argued. "You know enough. My friends…they could die. Easily. And then I'd be all alone."

Haly didn't seem to know what to say this time. What could he possibly say to all this? His fears were valid and real. And worst of all, there was no easy way to get rid of them.

"How do you conquer fear?" Dick muttered to himself.

"I don't know," Haly conceded. He paused briefly before he jumped into a random question. "Were you ever afraid of heights? Or of falling off that trapeze?"

"Um…not that I remember. Maybe at first?" _What are you getting at? That's not something I ever thought I'd hear_ you _ask._

"Let's assume you were afraid, at least for a little. How would you overcome a fear of heights?"

"…Face it until it becomes less scary?" Dick guessed.

"Exactly." Haly leaned back in his chair, looking satisfied with himself. However, Dick felt the opposite.

"So that's it? I'm supposed to face my friends dying repeatedly and just…get used to it?!"

"What? No, no!" Haly jumped to his feet in startledness. "What I mean is, eventually you realized the height was nothing to fear. The trapeze was nothing to fear. Watch close enough and you'll realize that you've got nothing to fear with your friends too."

The last of the Graysons rose to his feet. He didn't like Haly's advice, but maybe he was just interpreting it the wrong way. "I'll think on that," he compromised. "Thanks, Haly."

"Any time you need someone to talk to, I'm here."

*…*…*…*…*…*

That evening, there wasn't a show. It was their night off before their final day in the city. Dick had already decided that he wasn't going to follow them to their next stop; it was time for him to start thinking about going home. Wally was still around, but he was giving him some space (as per his request). The rest of the team and Bruce were probably really worried at this point, and he couldn't put them through any more suffering.

So this was his last chance to cope, and since he didn't have any specific ideas on how to do that, he decided to semi-follow Haly's advice. He would get back on the trapeze and face any lingering fears he had with that. It was a small step that he could take.

The whole tent was empty again. Normally you were supposed to have a spotter when doing the acrobatics, but Dick substituted a spotter with a large net. He wasn't dumb enough to fly without a net right now. He anticipated that he would fall multiple times. His ribs weren't even healed entirely, so he shouldn't have been doing this, but he was getting desperate for some remedy to the fear and sadness. He would just have to be strong and brave and try not to hurt himself further. No pressure.

Dick climbed to the top of the set and grabbed onto the trapeze immediately. An extra rush of adrenaline flooded his veins. Was he really about to do this? Was he really going to be brave enough to make the jump?

Yes. He was.

Dick gripped the trapeze and launched himself forward. The wind whipped in his face, shuffling his hair out of his face. His heart dropped into his stomach and made him feel queasy. But the rush and excitement of accomplishment covered the fear that he felt.

At least until he reached the other platform. He dismounted ungracefully and fought to keep his balance. But he did stay on his feet. And he didn't throw up even if a part of him wanted to. He breathed a breath that almost came out as a small chuckle. _I did it. I flew again._

Once wasn't good enough. He was ready to go again. Now that he was here, he didn't want to go down. He grabbed the trapeze and flew across. The pain in his ribs hardly annoyed him with the exhilaration of flying. After being tied for so long by his fear, it was time to be free of it. It was time to finally experience a good emotion.

On his sixth go, he felt his hands start to sweat more. His body wasn't used to the strain anymore. Yet he kept going. He couldn't stop now. Haly had come into the tent too and was silently watching him. Dick wanted to shout out to him, " _Look at this!_ _Look at what I've accomplished!"_ but he was having a hard enough time breathing. And besides, this was his victory and he could relish it by himself.

On the eighth trip across, his hands slipped off right in the middle of the flight. _Well, that's not so bad,_ he thought as he allowed himself to fall backwards towards the net. _I flew again. I overcame a fear. That means I can overcome the rest._

He was fully prepared to land on his back in the net and had positioned himself accordingly. Even with his ribs, the net should have been gentle enough to not agitate him too much. Yet after a few moments, he realized that he wasn't in the net. He wasn't even moving at all based on his look at the top of the net. He blinked and glanced around him, noticing that he was actually levitating. And when he looked down at the ground, he saw Haly standing there with a hand outstretched towards him and a look of panic on his face. Aside from that, his eyes shone an unearthly green.

That wasn't Haly. That was a Martian disguised as Haly. And he only knew one Martian who would be here right now: M'gann.

Upon realizing that she was figured out, M'gann dropped Dick into the net. He winced faintly at the impact, but he had been right all along—it wasn't painful. What really hurt was that his trust was broken yet again.

"Di—don't—" M'gann (as Haly) started to protest when she saw Dick roll off the net and land on the ground, but by the time she was done her protest, he was already there on the ground and walking towards her.

Dick uncharacteristically grabbed her by the front of the shirt and held on tightly with his fist. "Change back," he ordered her tightly. How dare she look like Haly? It was the biggest slap in the face he could get right now. She was obviously scared of this rage and her appearance quickly changed from Haly of Haly's Circus to M'gann of Mars. Even once she looked like herself, Dick still kept a hold on the top of her shirt. "How long were you here?" he snarled.

"W-what?"

"How long were you Haly?!" he boomed. He had an open and honest conversation with Haly earlier. He listened to the man's advice and acted on it because he trusted Haly. What if it hadn't been Haly at all? "Was that you I talked to earlier?"

"I didn't mean to," M'gann whispered in horror.

That settled it then. Dick didn't actually have a talk with the man he once viewed as a second father. It had been a trick all along. Just as he was about to release M'gann's shirt, he heard another voice call out his name in protest. Wally had returned.

Within a flash, Wally was right next to him. "Let her go, Dick," he said evenly.

Dick did, but he curled his hands up in fists as he looked at his best friend. "You called in the whole team, didn't you?"

"N-no. Why? Did you see anyone?"

"I'm not **stupid** , Wally!" Dick hollered in fury. "If M'gann's here, then the rest of the team is too. Where are they?"

Wally looked as if he was trying to formulate a witty response, but M'gann jumped in with the truth. "On standby. In the bioship. It's on a roof a few blocks away."

"And how long has the team been here?" He asked Wally directly, since it was Wally he had initially trusted.

"They got here the same night I did, a few hours after me."

 _So, they couldn't even give me a few_ hours _to cope._ First he asked Alfred for a day to search for Batman, and Alfred gave him nothing. Then he came to Haly's Circus and asked Wally to give him a few days, but gave Wally permission to stay there with him. Wally didn't even give him five hours before he recruited the team.

Dick wanted to keep being angry, but more than anything, he was sad.

"Dick," Wally began. "You have to understand-"

"I don't have to understand anything," Dick said cooly. "I made one request with you, Wally, and I thought it was pretty reasonable. Give me time to cope. That's all I asked. And then M'gann here-" He waved an arm in her direction, "—dressed up as Haly and gave me a therapy session. That's **not** helping."

"That wasn't part of our plan-" Wally started again.

"I don't care what your plan was. You broke my trust. All of you did." Dick didn't want to hear what Wally had to say to any of that, or M'gann (if she would dare to defend herself after what she did). He ran a hand over his head in aggravation and started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Wally called after him.

Where? A fair question. Not back to the cave. The whole team would be there by the time he got back and he'd have to face all of them. Plus Black Canary if she was going to force a therapy session on him.

In a moment he decided that he'd go home. He may have had Bruce and Alfred there to contend with, but facing the two of them was better than facing the six that would be at the cave.

"Dick!"

"Don't you **dare** try to follow me," he called back in warning. But he was smart enough to realize that unless he gave a destination, he would have the whole team on his back. "I'm going home, so back off."

Dick walked towards the exit and actually succeeded on leaving the tent, which was a surprise. The team was determined enough to come here for a few days and spy on him, but not determined enough to follow him again when they were caught in the act. Either that or M'gann didn't reach out to them telepathically yet and tell them to stop him. That encouraged him to grab his backpack quickly, get on his bike, and ride home. In an effort to avoid the team, he took several tunnels.

While he was in one, he pulled over and checked his bike. It was no wonder they weren't right on his heels to keep track of him; they had put a tracker on his bike at some point. That was another slap to the face. Dick had no qualms with tossing it on the ground and crushing it with his heel. If he had really wanted to be cruel, he would have stuck it to another vehicle and had them track that for a while. But he wasn't out to make his friends suffer—all he wanted was time to heal. He had taken a first step, but the presence of his team forced him back another ten. He hadn't felt so low since this whole thing began. When he first came out of it all, he was broken but knew he had the support of his friends. Now he was broken and without support. His friends betrayed him and his family betrayed him. The only person he had to trust at this point was himself.

After a few hours on his motorcycle, he made it home. It was dark and cold and raining, and all he wanted to do was sneak into his room and pass out. Of course as soon as he walked into the house, Alfred was there, waiting for him. Even he seemed to appear sorry.

"Master Dick," he began, "I'd like to apologize for…."

Dick didn't even hear the rest. He kept walking past the butler and to his room. Alfred was only sorry that he was caught. Whatever knowledge he had on Bruce didn't matter; Alfred ratted him out when he made a very reasonable request. He wasn't going to quickly forgive him for that.

At least Alfred had the sense to let him keep walking. Dripping and sopping wet, Dick made his way up to his bedroom. He threw his bag in the corner, changed into dry clothes, and laid down in the bed. His ribs both cried and sighed in relief at being on the mattress. Riding in the rain tensed him up so badly that his chest felt constricted again. That fear of not being able to breathe properly came back again. When the team first rescued him, he couldn't breathe well because of the swelling. He hadn't had the heart to tell them that since the attack, he had random moments where that sensation returned and sparked such fear that he would start hyperventilating. This was one of those moments.

Dick felt the fear rising up in his chest as his heart began to increase in pace. _I can't breathe. I can't breathe_. _I'm going to die…_ Despite his biggest fear being everyone around him dying, at that moment, he feared for his own life. He turned over onto his side and curled up slightly, trying to regain any control he had over the situation. This wasn't going to kill him. It couldn't kill him. But the hyperventilation continued and he began to shake.

Because he had turned his back to the door, he didn't see that Bruce had come up to talk to him. Bruce knew exactly what was happening, and so he silently came over to Dick and put a hand on his shoulder to try and soothe him. "You're alright," he said quietly. "You're safe here."

That almost made things worse. Dick thought back to the months after his parents died—the months where he was afraid of Tony Zucco coming and killing him while he slept. There were several nights where Bruce sat on the side of his bed just like this and set a hand on his shoulder, saying those exact words. _You're alright. You're safe here._

With those words, Dick couldn't help but shed a tear. But the words did have their desired effect. His breathing began to settle and he started to crawl out of the ball that he had rolled himself into. Bruce kept a steady hand on Dick's shoulder during the following minutes where he calmed down. He didn't say a word or try to press Dick for any details. Even after Dick was completely back to normal, he didn't ask any questions about where he had been—not that he had any need to, because Dick was sure that the whole team had kept him in the loop. But putting that aside for now, he was just glad that Bruce wasn't saying anything at all for now.

 _He'll talk soon enough though,_ Dick told himself. Whether it was to explain why he ran off to work with Arrow in the first place, or talk about Haly's Circus, or ask him again to get therapy, Bruce would talk. He couldn't let that happen. "I'm tired," Dick said softly.

Bruce took that as his cue. "I'll let you rest." His hand lingered for just a few moments extra before he rose to his feet. "Goodnight, Dick."

"Goodnight," he mumbled back.

He didn't even watch as Bruce left. His adopter turned off the light and closed the door, leaving Dick alone just like he wanted. Except he realized Wally had been right all along: he did want to be alone, but not truly alone. Yet here he was.

*…*…*…*…*…*

The next morning, Dick woke up groggy and disoriented. It was strange to sleep in his own bed again. The bed was the same, but he wasn't. He couldn't help but feel like a stranger in his own house as he showered, got dressed, and went downstairs for breakfast. A small part of him was surprised to see his whole team plus Alfred and Bruce in the living room, but he wasn't totally shocked. After all, there had to be a discussion about everything that happened.

"Master Dick, you're awake," Alfred began. "Breakfast will now be served. Everyone, please move to the dining room."

All of his friends stood up and started walking over while Dick lingered at the bottom of the steps. The conversations that they continued to hold with each other were forced. Bruce and Artemis were talking about school, and Artemis was discussing some of the work that Dick missed. M'gann was talking about cheerleading to Conner and Kaldur, and Wally was talking to Alfred about what food was being provided this morning. Roy was here too, which was a surprise.

It was Roy who caught Dick on the stairs. "I wanted to let you know first that I didn't know anything about them ambushing you at the circus," he said. "I wasn't there and I think your reaction is completely justified."

Finally, it seemed like there was someone on his side. "Thanks," Dick mumbled as he started towards the table. As much as he truly did appreciate Roy saying that, he knew that this morning's breakfast was going to be unpleasant.

It wasn't at first with everyone keeping up their cheerful facades. Alfred made a breakfast fit for kings. Eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, pancakes, and cinnamon rolls were being passed left and right to make everyone happy. Wally was, of course, shoving his face full of everything. Fortunately Alfred was prepared for the trash disposal better known as Wally West.

Dick was one of the quiet ones at the table, aside from Roy and Bruce. They sat on either side of him almost to guarantee that he wouldn't be able to run away from this. Halfway through the meal, it was M'gann who started the conversation that silenced all others.

"Dick," she began, getting his attention as he stared off into space. "I'd like to apologize first. I absolutely should not have disguised myself as Haly. The reason I was at his desk that day was to see if he had anything on your past. I was snooping where it was none of my business and I am so sorry."

Dick moved his eggs around on his plate but nodded to show he heard her. She could take that as accepting the apology if she wanted, but if she did, she was a fool. No apology was going to take away what she did.

"And I'm sorry I called in the team like that," Wally said. "I should have been straight with you. You get why I did it though, right? Sportsmaster is still out there…"

 _Not a single one of you actually believes he's coming after me though,_ Dick silently argued. If they truly believed that, they would have had security on him 24/7. Instead, most of his friends were experiencing normal lives. Bruce too. And besides that, Wally wasn't apologizing for calling the team. He wasn't sorry he did that and that ticked Dick off. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Roy shaking his head. It was good to have one ally at this table.

"We're all sorry to have deceived you," Artemis said. "We were worried and didn't know what to do."

Dick played around with his eggs a little bit more on his plate before realizing that nobody else was going to jump on the apology train. Bruce wasn't going to apologize for disappearing and starting all this, and Alfred wasn't going to try his apology again. That was fine—he didn't want their apologies. He wanted things back to how they were before.

"Okay," he said, acknowledging all of them as he took a bite of his eggs. He wasn't going to say any more than that, whether they wanted to hear it or not. The whole team should have expected this kind of response since they invaded one of his sacred places.

"Did you find what you were looking for at Haly's Circus?" Conner asked after a few moments of silence.

Dick set both his hands on the table and stood up. He very pointedly glanced at M'gann before he stared at Conner. "No." As soon as he said that, he walked away from the table. Nobody called after him, but he did hear one person stand up to follow him. At first he thought it was Bruce. He kept walking until he reached the living room and saw that it was actually Roy.

"Don't stress over any of that," Roy said. "They earned that when they deceived you. Batman included."

So, Roy knew about Batman disappearing for a few days. The whole team must have been in on it. "How much do you know?" he asked cautiously.

"Batman came to Star City to do some snooping without telling you and he instructed the whole team to be quiet about it so you wouldn't worry. I didn't know you were out of the loop until Kaldur came and fetched Batman. Wally called me to join everyone at Haly's Circus, but I told him off. It was really uncool of them to spy on you, whether they had concerns for your safety or not."

Someone was finally understanding things from his perspective. "I want to talk about everything that happened," Dick sighed as he plopped down in a chair. "Not to the team. They betrayed my trust and they won't earn it back quickly. Or Batman."

"Well, I'll stick around and keep you sane, if you want me to."

"I'd appreciate that. Thanks."

Roy nodded, glancing towards the direction of the dining room. Everyone was probably too far off to hear, but of course Superboy had good hearing. They both knew that the conversation would have to come later, but for now, Dick felt a little better to know that there was at least one person left that he could trust. He wasn't completely alone.

*…*…*…*…*…*

 **Author: I decided to publish this chapter early to celebrate the fact that I finished writing up to chapter 19! I anticipate at least 21 chapters in the story, but it could always change. Thanks for following the story so far; feel free to drop a review. I think I've said it before, but reviews always encourage me to write more stuff and to produce it faster.**

 **Thanks to Aquarica and V-Con13 for the reviews last chapter. And V-Con13, welcome to the story! I hope you'll stick around to the conclusion.**

 **Peanut**


	17. Chapter 17: The Worst Pain

Chapter Seventeen: The Worst Pain

"And that's why we're here now," Black Canary was saying to Aqualad—Kaldur. They were in the conference room (not an unusual place to speak these recent days) and finished discussing an important subject: Dick, and how he wasn't able to provide full details of what happened to him

Or rather, he _refused_ to share what happened. It was now three weeks after his rescue, and while he was improving physically, everyone could tell that he was a different person. With his friends he still was creating words and joking around, but in the quiet moments between those jokes, he was lost. He obviously wasn't sleeping well at night still, judging by the bags under his eyes and the shadows that lingered in his gaze.

Dick wasn't providing them details, and so they needed to start piecing together the events in a new way. That was what Dinah just explained to the team leader. However, she wasn't the only one to explain it—Batman was also in the room with her. He elected to stand as opposed to sit, while she and Kaldur sat across from each other like usual.

"I am willing to share my half of the events," Kaldur said easily. "But I fear it is not much."

"That's fine," Batman said. "Start from the moment you arrived."

"The team was flying in via Miss Martian's Bioship. With his excellent vision, Superboy saw an unexpected situation: A sniper was shooting at Sportsmaster. He and Robin jumped to a safer location, but Lex Luthor's assistant, Mercy, appeared and challenged Sportsmaster. Robin took this opportunity to run towards the water only to find Klarion waiting for him. I had jumped out of the ship early and began to swim to that area. When Klarion knocked Robin into the water, I was there to save him. Robin…" Aqualad looked to the side in discomfort. "…I am not sure if he wanted to save himself and could not, or if he lost his will. He started sinking down naturally. I brought him to dry land again, and the chaotic battle ensued."

"Chaotic because you were facing off against Sportsmaster, Mercy, Klarion, and the sniper Deathstroke," Canary filled in.

"In part," he agreed. "But we also failed to established telepathic communication. Something was prohibiting Miss Martian from making the link. The something that we later discovered was a g-gnome."

"Were you able to establish a link eventually?" Batman asked with particular interest. Kaldur couldn't read why he looked so focused on that question, but it didn't matter—all he had to do was answer it.

"We were able to establish the link," Kaldur concurred. "Robin told us that it was a g-gnome that kept him sedated, and that was what blocked the telepathic communication. I wanted to keep him out of the battle. He was insistent on helping somehow. So I sent him back into the building. Whatever he did worked, because we were all connected within moments."

"Kaldur," Black Canary started slowly. She leaned forward in her seat, folding her arms in front of her as she looked at Aqualad with deep focus. "Do you know what had to occur for that telepathic block to be lifted?"

"I…" He trailed of as he tried to piece his thoughts together. "The G-gnome was a tool of Lex Luthor and Sportsmaster. None of their species has ever shown any ill-will towards us. So, I assumed that Robin spoke to it and asked it to not interfere."

"The g-gnome may not have shown ill-will, but I'm sure they know better than to disobey Lex." Batman was the one who said it, and he continued staring at Kaldur to see his every facial expression. "The g-gnone was dead when Black Canary went to the scene to pick up Sportsmaster. We believe that Robin killed it."

 _That's impossible._ Robin valued life just as much as Batman—even the most insane from Arkham wouldn't get that treatment from him. Unless…"You are questioning Robin's mental state at that time, and now you are trying to discern how disturbed he was from the sedation and the fear toxin."

"He hasn't spoken to me through any of the counseling, and he hasn't spoken to Batman about anything beyond what he told you all. With that kind of secrecy, I think we have to assume the worst. Kaldur…We're sure now that Robin killed the g-gnome."

As much as he wanted to deny it, he had to admit that it was within the realm of possibility. None of them could get an accurate gauge on Robin's mental state since the incident. Obviously he wasn't doing well. He was pale and tired and clearly not sleeping at night. Perhaps the stress of the sedation was enough to push him over the edge.

Perhaps it did turn him into a killer.

"Where is he right now?" Kaldur asked after a few tense moments of silence.

"At school. At the end of the day, we three will speak to him about our suspicions and discover the truth."

*…*…*…*…*…*

It was Robin—no, Dick's—first day back at school. Artemis knew because Batman—ugh, no, Bruce Wayne—had called her to let her know. And more specifically, he wanted her to keep an eye on Dick throughout the day both physically and mentally. They were all sure that nobody was going to come and steal him away again, but his body was still weak from everything. And mentally, he was still a shell of himself.

She only had one class with him, and that was their history class 4th period. Before that, Dick had Grammar, Calculus, and then Economics. She sat ready in her 4th period class and watched for him to come in.

The bell rang. Mr. Lewis began his lesson on World War I.

Five minutes later, Dick entered with a late pass. He took his seat in the back of the room, two seats away from her. She was able to see him out of the corner of her eye. He was as pale as a ghost and trembling slightly.

Her first instinct was to try and get him out of the room somehow. To make up some kind of farfetched excuse about how the two of them had to both go to the nurse's office at the same time. Nevermind the fact that she hadn't ever acknowledged Dick Grayson until the day of his initial kidnapping.

"Mr. Lewis?"

"Yes, Barbara?"

It wasn't Artemis who had spoken—it was Barbara Gordon. She always sat in the front of the classroom and paid attention to the lectures. She never asked to leave the room and never missed out on a lecture. That was why the follow-up question surprised Artemis.

"Dick doesn't look very good. May I take him to the nurse's office?"

Once Artemis actually thought it out, it made sense. Barbara was one of Dick's best friends. She was constantly with him in the hall and while he was out of school, she was the one who always gathered schoolwork for him. It wasn't weird for her to notice his state even if she didn't know about his life as Robin.

With one look at Dick, the teacher spoke up. "Yes, please, escort him to the nurse." As Barbara began to get up, Mr. Lewis started his lecture again. "Now, as I was saying, Germany at this time—" Another hand raised. "Yes, Artemis?"

"Sorry. May I go to the bathroom?"

"Yes, go."

Artemis subtly pulled her cell phone out of her backpack as she saw Barbara and Dick exit the room. She had to hurry to see where they were going—if it was the nurse, fine. But Barbara was one of Dick's best friends, and while she did look concerned, she looked like she had intentions other than taking him to the nurse.

Artemis left the room and looked to the left and to the right to see where the duo went. They were already out of sight. Groaning to herself, she decided to head towards the nurse's office. It was only a few minutes away from her position.

When she rounded a corner, she noticed an adult walking towards her. A substitute teacher, maybe—she didn't remember having a bald teacher who dressed in business attire. She was prepared to just step over to the other side of the hallway, avoid his gaze, and keep going on her way, but then she noticed that he _did_ look familiar after all.

"Lex Luthor," she gasped. Artemis stopped dead in her tracks as he kept approaching her. He was only two feet away when he stopped right in front of her.

"I'm sorry, my dear, do I know you?" he asked in his polite tone.

"Drop it, Luthor," she hissed. "What are **you** doing here?"

"Hadn't you heard? Mr. Sanchez invited me as a guest speaker for his economics class. I'll be here for the rest of this week. Possibly longer if he would like."

Economics. That was where Dick had just come from. No wonder he was pale and trembling—he just sat in on a class with the guy who knew his secret identity and tortured him for two weeks!

"Leave Dick alone," she growled menacingly.

"I have no intention of doing anything aside from teaching a course," Luthor stated factually.

Did she believe that? No, of course not. Luthor came as a guest speaker the day that Dick returned? Yeah that was too big of a coincidence to be coincidence.

…But Artemis couldn't just attack the owner of Lex Corps in the middle of her high school hallway. There was nothing she could do to help Dick while she was Artemis Crock, except to find him now and make sure he was okay.

"I'll be watching," she threatened. She stepped past him and headed towards the nurse's office, refusing to turn around and look at the man who was behind so much pain. A whole week of him here…well, that just meant that Dick had to stay home and recover for the rest of this week. That wasn't the worst thing ever. Bruce could keep him there and make him feel safe while at the same time letting Dick's body recover.

Yeah, it would work out.

But first, she had to get him home. She walked forward towards the vacant tutoring rooms and stepped inside one. Bruce had given her Alfred's phone number so she could call him any time to pick up Dick. That was exactly what she did. It was a short conversation, but it got the point across. Dick needed to get picked up.

As she went to step out of the room, the door suddenly came open.

There was Dick and Barbara.

"Artemis? What are you doing here?" Barbara asked in surprise and annoyance.

"I was…looking for you guys." At least that was an honest answer, as was her next one. "I was worried, okay? Sue me." _Batman told me to keep an eye on him. I can't let him down._

Barbara ushered Dick to a chair and answered Artemis in his stead. "He'll be fine…I think."

"I'm already fine," Dick stated.

"No you're not," both girls said at the same time.

"Geez, it's like surround-sound," Dick joked faintly.

Barbara gave Artemis a hard look. "It seems like I won't be able to get rid of you."

"And there's no way for me to get rid of you either," Artemis agreed. "Let's just get to it and get some answers."

" _That's_ an idea I can get behind."

Dick opened his mouth to speak again, but he quickly noticed that he was against two young women who were immovable forces when they were determined. He didn't stand a chance. He sighed, rubbing his hair lightly as he sat in his seat. The two followed his example and sat down at the table across from him like two police officers interrogating a criminal.

Artemis wanted to ask him about his injuries, but with Barbara in the room, she couldn't ask anything at all that concerned what happened to him in the past few weeks. And Barbara wasn't going to leave willingly.

"Dick, should I call Bruce to pick you up?" Barbara asked first.

"No," he answered in a heartbeat. Too quick a response. "Look, I just got lightheaded in Economics, okay? Mr. Sanchez wanted to send me to the office to go home, but it's my first day back. I'm not missing school anymore."

"And you were lightheaded from your trip? The trip you got back from two weeks ago? The trip you told me nothing about?"

"Barbara," Artemis warned.

"I don't even understand why _you're_ here," she snapped in frustration to Artemis. "Since when do you care about Dick?"

"It's a long story," Dick started.

"Mr. Lewis will want me back in class soon," Barbara said as she folded her arms over her chest. "Make it quick."

"Hang on," Artemis interrupted. "Now's not the time for some elaborate story. We really should take him to the nurse. He looks like he's going to faint."

"I'm fine," Dick repeated.

"And that's a lie," Barbara said. "Just like your trip was a lie. Look, Dick…I know your connection to Haly's Circus. I know how much it means to you and I'm sure if you really did go there, it was an emotional trip. But that's not where you were. That day of the lockdown, you disappeared. Bruce said that he came at lunch to take you home after the threat. But then you don't come to school for the next month? I'm not **stupid**. What is really going on?"

Artemis stared at Dick. Barbara _did_ have a good point. She wasn't stupid, and the situation with Dick Grayson suddenly not coming to school after the lockdown was suspicious.

" _And_ ," Barbara continued, "you're obviously hurt. You expect me to believe that you suddenly went away on an emotional trip and came back so hurt you can't walk straight and can hardly breathe?"

"Dick, I already called Alfred," Artemis interrupted. "He'll be here soon."

"You know something, don't you?" Barbara asked.

"I know he's in pain. That comes before answers."

"I agree, but we can have _both._ Is there something you want to tell me, Artemis?"

"Barbara," Dick interrupted quietly. "That's enough."

She stopped, looking over at Dick when she noticed a very obvious difference in his tone. This was no longer the defiant Dick Grayson she pulled out of class. His tone was one of defeat.

"I'd like you and Artemis to both leave early with me when Alfred comes," Dick requested softly. "Please."

The girls looked at each other, both surprised but for different reasons.

"Okay," Barbara agreed. She stood up suddenly, pushing in her chair before she walked over to Dick. "I'm sorry I got so hotheaded. Let's go the nurse and wait for Alfred there, okay?"

"Okay."

"I'll go get all our stuff from the classroom and tell Mr. Lewis what's going on," Artemis said. She walked around the other side of the table and expected to hear some kind of response—something like an "okay," or "thanks," but Dick and Barbara were silent. When she opened the door, she turned over her shoulder to look at them.

Barbara had a hand on Dick's shoulder, and he was leaning his head towards that arm so his hair lightly touched Barbara's long sleeves. In that moment, Artemis felt a lot more sympathy towards both Barbara and Dick—it was obvious to her now that they had a relationship far deeper than a simple friendship.

She silently left the room to collect their items. The rest was uneventful. Mr. Lewis understood the situation and allowed her to take everything. By the time she made it to the nurse's office, Dick, Barbara, and Alfred were there. They all signed out of the school (since Alfred was allowed to sign them all out for the day), hopped into his car, and went to the manor.

The whole ride was silent. Barbara had been so hungry for answers before, but now she was just staring out the window. Artemis wondered if something happened while she was getting all their books. Still, she couldn't exactly ask them—what happened was between the two of them.

They approached the mansion on the hill. Got out of the car. Walked inside. Headed towards a large open room with a desk in it. Nothing too noteworthy, except for the grandfather clock on the wall that Dick was walking towards.

Only Alfred knew what Dick was doing. "Master Dick," he protested suddenly.

Dick's response was unemotional—level and clearheaded. "It's my choice to make, Alfred," he said quietly. He opened the glass door in the front and pulled on the swinging handle. Suddenly the clock came towards them and revealed a door behind it.

Artemis hadn't seen this before, but she was able to figure out what was going on. And she agreed with Alfred. "You shouldn't…" she tried only for her words to fail her. Shouldn't what—tell someone important about what was wrong? Why he was injured and missing school all the time? She couldn't say that. It really _was_ his choice.

Dick started walking down the stairs that were previously hidden behind the clock without waiting for anyone. Barbara got over her shock in a second and followed, as did Artemis. The path down was a long set of stairs. The whole area was a cave full of odd treasures, computers, and costumes.

It was the costumes that Dick led them to. Out of breath from the stairs, he stopped a few feet away from his Robin costume and pointed at it. "Any questions?" he breathily asked Barbara.

Of course she had questions, Artemis thought. It wasn't every day a person found out their best friend was a super hero. She was lucky in that way—she was always surrounded by the absurd growing up with her parents as villains. She always knew people in the life, and therefore it made it easier for her to accept the reality that people behind the masks were actually human.

Barbara stumbled over a word, and nearly over her feet, as she took a small step forward. "D-Dick, I…" She lifted a hand to her mouth, then her other, to hide her trembling lip. But the tear that slid down her cheek betrayed any emotion she was feeling. She suddenly stepped forward and placed both her hands on Dick's shoulders. "…What happened?" she whispered in horror.

Dick glanced away with that one, but not before glancing over at Artemis. That was him giving her permission to say it for him.

"The bad guys got him," Artemis filled in after a moment. "He got pretty beat up throughout it all. They wanted to test an invention of theirs, and, well…" There really wasn't much more to say than that. And Barbara didn't need any more than that. She wrapped her arms around Dick and shed a few more silent tears for her friend. Dick wouldn't cry, and so Barbara would cry for him. Artemis supposed that sometimes, friendship really was that simple.

She turned to leave—to give the two privacy—when she saw Bruce Wayne and Alfred standing at the bottom of the stairs. Artemis was the only one who noticed them, and with the look on Bruce's face, she felt like she had failed him somehow.

Instead of scolding her, he merely shook his head and motioned for her to come towards him. She did so and exited the Batcave with him and Alfred. With how silent they all were, she didn't think Dick and Barbara even noticed Bruce's presence. That was good, because Dick probably would have been upset for Bruce to know that the secret was out.

"Artemis," Bruce said once they were upstairs. "Tell me what happened."

She spilled everything. How Dick was fine first thing in the morning, but then arrived late to history and was shaking and pale. How she ran into Lex Luthor, called Alfred, and how they were all brought back here at Dick's request. Bruce didn't interrupt and ask anything about Barbara—he clearly understood that it was a choice Dick made and that Artemis couldn't have done anything to stop him.

After she finished with everything, nobody said a word. She thought that they were all just trying to process the consequences of Robin's identity now being known by a true civilian. That civilian being the daughter of Gotham's commissioner certainly didn't simplify things.

"Master Bruce," Alfred eventually began. "Now what?"

The billionaire glanced over at the window and allowed his gaze to rest there. "It's Dick's choice," he said after a moment. "I respect his decision to trust Barbara with whatever it is he's telling her."

Immediately after he said that, he began to walk away from the two of them. At first she thought that it was anger that compelled him, but then she saw the look of heartbreak on his face. He wasn't mad at Dick; he was sad that his son wouldn't confide in him about what was happening inside his head and heart.

 _It's like he lost his son,_ Artemis thought, stunned to feel her eyes get moist. She knew what that was like on the other side—how it was to lose a parent to something other than death.

 _There's no greater sadness than seeing someone lose themselves and not be able to help._

 _*…*…*…*…*…*_

 **Author: I disappeared again…I'm the worst. Sorry guys! I'll try to do better. I've had major writer's block the past two months. I'll keep working at it. Thanks to those of you that review and those of you that stick around as silent readers.**

 **Peanut**


	18. Chapter 18: Murderous Intent

Chapter Eighteen: Murderous Intent

With Lex Luthor at the school, the whole team was adamant about Dick not attending for the rest of the week. It would be easy enough to say that he was still sick and distraught over whatever fictitious event they created to keep the attention off of him. The day that he had been in school for a half day, all of his classmates and teachers saw him as sickly pale and slightly greenish.

Dick protested at first—he said he missed enough school and that he had to suck it up and deal with the fact that Lex was his guest teacher for just four more days. It wasn't a huge deal. Obviously the team outvoted him. Most importantly, Bruce outvoted him. He was to stay at either the manor or in the cave for the week. Nobody quite trusted him to be alone. Especially not Kaldur.

With everything that happened, Kaldur was skeptical of Robin. Batman had gotten into his head that Robin killed the g-gnome in order to reestablish telepathic communication for the team. No matter what his reasons were, Robin killed a creature that was only following orders.

Of course, nobody knew that for sure. Robin still hadn't said anything else about his time in captivity, and nobody was going to ask with this new development with Lex Luthor. The investigation would have to wait until after Lex was gone. While he was around, Kaldur, Batman, and Black Canary were focused on keeping an eye on Robin. If he could justify killing an innocent creature, he could certainly justify killing Lex Luthor.

That thought sent a chill down Kaldur's spine. He stood in the kitchen area, looking at the small living area where Dick was relaxing with Roy. The three of them had no responsibilities when it came to school (at least for this week). Kaldur was glad that Roy was here to make Dick feel more normal, because Kaldur couldn't interact with him as if nothing was wrong. And besides that, it was good to have another set of critical eyes on Robin. Roy may not have known about the g-gnome, but he was observant and a good friend of Dick's. If anyone could tell what was really going on in Dick's head, it was him.

Kaldur turned and walked away, deciding to leave it to Roy. He needed to get some air.

*…*…*…*…*…*

As soon as Kaldur walked away, Dick felt like he could breathe again. All of his friends seemed to forget that he was a detective. Maybe he wasn't at Batman's level, but he was smart enough to realize that they all knew something that he didn't. Kaldur could hardly look at him, Wally was always asking questions, and the rest of the team just made small talk with him about the weather. It was obvious that they were babysitting him a lot of the time and that if he said anything to them, they would immediately report it back to Batman.

That shouldn't have been such a bad thing. After all, it was good to have a parent who was looking out for your best interest. The biggest problem was that Batman, Kaldur, and Black Canary obviously suspected him of something, and yet they wouldn't confront him about it. Whatever it was, he wasn't going to do anything to potentially trigger them to bring it up. He didn't feel like facing the firing squad.

But Roy was different. He wasn't a part of the team, and therefore he had no forced allegiance to Batman, Canary, or even Kaldur. And he didn't take part in any of the nonsense with following him to Haly's Circus. Whenever Dick was alone with him, he actually felt free to discuss the things that bothered him without worrying about being reported to anyone.

Roy knew far more than anybody else about Dick's time in captivity and his emotions since then, and yet he hadn't said a word to anyone. Dick appreciated that more than words could ever convey.

"You feel like sneaking out now that the coast's clear?" Roy asked after a moment of silence.

"I do, but…" If Dick truly did leave, it would make the whole team worried. And they had a right to worry since he already proved he was a flight risk. He thought that it was best to just stay in their line of sight for a while—so that they wouldn't suffer like they did when he was away.

"I'm not talking about being gone for long. We could just pop into the school for a few minutes, pick up your books, and then come back here."

"Alfred's picking up all my books today," Dick responded. "And anyway, nobody wants me near the school with Lex there."

"Nobody seriously thinks he's going to abduct you again, right?" Roy asked skeptically.

The boy wonder shook his head slowly as he shifted his gaze to the blank television in front of him. "It's not that," he started slowly. "It's mostly that they don't know what my reaction to him would be. He held me captive. Essentially tortured me. They think that I'm unstable enough to attack him. Don't you think that's why Kaldur's been watching me so closely all week? To make sure that I don't leave here and kill him?"

"Anyone who thinks you'd take Lex's life is an idiot. Don't get me wrong," Roy added after a second, focusing his gaze on Dick. "He does deserve to die. But you've got your policy about not killing anyone and you won't break that even for Lex. If I were in your shoes, I'd kill him. I'm actually surprised nobody from the team's gone after him yet."

When Dick was silent, Roy decided to glance away and give him some privacy. Neither of them would fully know what was going on in the other person's head. They both accepted the fact that they had the right to not vocalize everything and that if it was deemed important, it would come up. But in the meantime, they let the conversation die.

"You've stuck around for a while," Dick said after a few more moments of silence. When Roy gave him a look, he just shrugged. "You normally don't."

"Well, somebody's gotta stick around to keep you sane," Roy proclaimed. He was so straightforward with everything that even Dick wasn't sure if he was supposed to take that as a joke or not. Roy must have seen that and softened. "And I was hoping you'd open up to someone. I know you're not talking to the rest of the team about anything. Not even Batman, right?"

"I can't. I just…" Dick's voice was unlike him. Frail and unsure. "He's worried enough. And he's part of the gang that's looking at me like I'm a loose cannon."

"You know why they are, though," Roy said knowingly. Running off to Haly's without telling anyone was enough to set the whole team on edge. That was another reason Roy was sticking around—he felt like if he was around, Dick wouldn't just run off.

"I know," Dick agreed, "and I can't blame them, but it's still enough to make me angry."

"I know."

The silence fell between them again. The two of them were the only ones to know exactly what happened that day, thanks to Dick's openness about what happened before the team was there and onward. Roy truly was grateful for Dick and his decision to trust in him.

"Look," Roy began. "I gotta pop out for the day. You really should think about the conversation we had the other day though, okay?"

"Already thought about it, Roy. The answer's no."

"Okay, fine. But that's not going to stop me."

As Roy walked away, Dick started to open his mouth to protest, but couldn't. Maybe his answer wasn't a firm "no" after all.

*…*…*…*…*…*

It was five o'clock that Friday evening. The whole team thought that they made it through the week without incident, but they were proven wrong when they realized that Dick was missing. He was nowhere in Mount Justice and not at home at Wayne Manor. There were no other places that he was supposed to be this week.

The one place that he may have gone was school. Maybe Alfred forgot to get one of his books. Maybe Barbara was going to tutor him after school and he forgot to tell anyone where he was going to be.

Or, maybe he was there to see Lex. Lex had been the guest speaker in the economics class for just a week. Bruce knew for a fact that his schedule ended at 9:00 that night. Luthor finished teaching at 3:00, and then had several hours between that and a lecture that night at the school. He was surely staying in his guest office at the school to prepare for that lecture. If Bruce knew exactly where to find Lex, that meant that Dick probably did as well.

But the most alarming part of the situation was that Dick's Robin costume was missing from the cave along with him.

Robin was going to confront Lex Luthor. Bruce could feel it in his bones.

As soon as he pieced that all together, he called Kaldur and Wally—two of Dick's best friends on the team. He would have called Roy as well, but Roy had left earlier that afternoon and hadn't been seen since. That wasn't odd, since Roy was a free spirit and not attached to the team or its missions.

The three of them donned their costumes and rushed to the school, praying that it wasn't too late.

Wally was first. With his speed, he was supposed to get there first, survey the situation, and pass on any intel to the other two members of the team. Worst case scenario, he was supposed to step in and end any confrontations that were going on.

The biggest problem was that Wally wasn't familiar with the layout of the building. He hadn't been inside the building before and therefore had no clue where Lex's guest office was. He had to simply run through the halls as fast as he could, but be stealthy at the same time. Yeah, like that was even possible.

 _C'mon Dick, don't do something stupid,_ Wally thought as he jogged down the next hallway. He knew that this whole thing had Dick messed up, but was he seriously this bad? He knew that nothing good would come out of a confrontation, and yet here he was.

"You don't have to do this," a muffled voice proclaimed calmly. It was Lex Luthor. If he was saying that, that must have meant that Robin was already in there and confronting him. Wally turned his head towards the door down the hall. It was true that room was one of the few to have lights on…the door was closed though, so he couldn't see in immediately. He walked down the hall and stood outside the door. He stood up and glanced through the window to see exactly what was going on. It wasn't what he expected at all.

There were three people in the room: Lex Luthor, Robin, and the third was none other than Roy Harper. Red Arrow.

And it wasn't Robin that was threatening Lex Luthor, it was Red Arrow.

Roy was standing on one side of the room, bow drawn and arrow pointing at Lex. Robin was standing slightly to Lex's right, but was within two feet of him. He didn't have a weapon drawn and his attention was focused solely on Red Arrow.

"I told you not to go through with this," Robin stated to Red Arrow.

"You didn't say no this afternoon," Roy retorted. "I know you have your rule. No killing. But you still agreed that Lex deserves to die."

"If you kill him, it's all over for you. You'll lose everything. You won't be a hero anymore."

"I never really was one."

Kid saw it happen quickly. Roy's hold on the bowstring loosened. The arrow that was on the string was a simple one that had a deadly sharp tip. This was an arrow that was intended for a oneshot kill and they all knew it. Roy, Lex, and even Dick.

Whether it was instinctual or intentional, Dick jumped to his left. He had seen the same thing as Wally and within a millisecond, he calculated where he had to be in order to take the arrow for Lex Luthor and save the man who tortured him for weeks.

Wally wasn't going to let it happen. He shoved the door open and bolted in towards both Lex and Robin. Even at his top speed, he wouldn't be fast enough to stop the arrow from his location. He took a small jump right before he reached the two and tackled both Lex Luthor and Dick Grayson to the ground while Roy's arrow pierced the tan wall behind him.

Kid glanced up at the arrow, then down to the two he tackled, and then over to the archer that had fired it. Roy looked surprised at first, but he quickly masked it with his typical stoicism. "What are you doing, Red Arrow?" Kid Flash nearly growled at his friend. _Are you insane?! You nearly killed Dick!_

"What about you? You're hurting Robin!"

Wally glanced down and realized that he was right. He was still half on top of Robin and Lex, and while Lex looked only slightly inconvenienced, Dick had his eyes squeezed shut behind his mask and was fighting a grimace.

He stood up then and placed himself in front of both Lex and Dick. "You almost did worse than that."

"Yeah, because I was the only one who was willing to do what's necessary. You know Lex deserves to die!"

"Isn't that a decision Robin should make?"

"If he can't make the decision, then his teammates should step up and make it for him," Roy said pointedly. "Come on, Kid, you know I'm right."

Wally had to admit, at least to himself, that he hated Lex Luthor with every fiber of his being. Just standing in front of him and defending him from Roy made him hate Lex even more. He was a shady businessman and the man who was responsible for orchestrating everything bad that happened to Robin. He was responsible for turning Dick into a shell of what he was before. Dick wasn't humorous or lighthearted or brave now; now he was serious and heavyhearted and afraid. Anyone who made him change to that degree deserved to be punished.

But he deserved to be punished within the law, not by vigilante justice.

"You're not right," Kid said evenly. "You're wrong. And I'm not going to let you do this."

Roy strung another arrow, though he kept his bow pointed to the ground for an extra moment. "I'm sorry Kid, but I'm not going to let you stop me. I will kill Lex Luthor, tonight, and Robin won't have to be afraid anymore."

"I do not believe that it is a solution for alleviating Robin's fear," a new voice said. As soon as they all looked to the doorway, they saw who that new voice belonged to. But even before that, they could see the water speedily enter the room and wrap itself in a coil around Roy's torso. His bow was now permanently aimed at the ground, and Red Arrow couldn't escape the water no matter how hard he tried.

Kaldur stepped into the room, keeping his gaze fixed on Roy Harper. His speech, however, was directed at someone else. "Kid, are they alright?"

"Both fine. I tackled them on the way in."

"Get them out of here."

Wally looked behind him and saw Lex Luthor already rising to his feet. Dick was starting to push himself up, but he was clearly having a harder time of it. Wally was confused at first on why it was so hard for Dick to stand up, but then he understood: with that tackle, it was very possible that he bruised or broke one of Dick's ribs again.

The speedster wordlessly knelt down and helped Robin up, wrapping one of his friend's arms around his shoulders as his own went around Robin's waist. He briefly glared at Roy, blaming him for putting them in this situation, before he and Robin exited the room after Lex Luthor. He started them towards the back exit where Batman had surely parked his vehicle. He wasn't sure where the Dark Knight was, but-

The doors opening at the end of the hallway answered that question. Batman took one look at the three of them and ran the remaining distance between them. He obviously wasn't sure what to make of the fact that Dick seemed to be wounded. Dick seemed to want to stand on his own when he saw his adoptive father run towards them in concern, but Wally's hold on him was too firm and Dick was still in too much pain.

"What happened?" Batman asked immediately.

"Your protégé just saved my life," Lex Luthor responded just as quickly. Batman gave him a double-take, then looked to Robin. "Red Arrow threatened my life and shot an arrow at me. Young Robin tried to defuse the situation but ultimately, he was willing to take that arrow for me."

"It didn't hit him," Wally filled in when Batman looked panicked. "I tackled him and Luthor to keep them safe. But I think I tackled him a little too hard."

Robin opened his mouth and looked up at Batman to add in his own comments, but then he closed it again. He had several that he wanted to say but couldn't, because Batman may have been skeptical of him these past few weeks, but he had every right to be with how out of character he was acting. At that moment though, all traces of suspicion vanished from his face. If Dick was sane enough to protect Lex Luthor of all people, then obviously he wasn't in as bad a place as Bruce and the team thought he was. He wanted to say that, but he couldn't bring himself to talk back to Batman when he had obviously been so terrified for him.

"Where's Red Arrow now?"

"Aqualad is restraining him."

"I trust that you'll handle the rest of this, Batman?" Lex Luthor said. "I need to prepare for my lecture this evening."

"Go."

Lex glanced at the boy wonder once more, giving him a slight bow. "I'm thankful, Robin," he said with his business-like sincerity. Kid wished that Red Arrow was there at that moment to shoot Lex through the head. How dare he be polite after everything he did? It was his own fault he was in this situation.

As Lex walked away, Batman took a few more steps closer to the two boys. "Go back and see if Kaldur needs help. Call Miss Martian to bring the bioship and take you all back to the Cave."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'll help Robin."

Kid looked at Robin without a word. Alone-time with Bruce was probably the last thing Dick wanted right now, but it was what he needed most. "Can you stand on your own, buddy?" Kid asked softly.

"Yeah, lemme go."

Wally did as Dick asked and slowly let go of the arm that had been around his shoulders. Although Dick was shaky at first, he did seem to get his bearings pretty quickly and stand on his own. Of course, Batman wasn't going to force him to walk on his own. He walked over and immediately grasped one of Dick's upper arms to help support him. The look that he gave him was nothing short of love.

Wally watched for a moment as the two walked out, but then he turned back towards the office where Kaldur and Roy were. Batman had his job, and Wally had his. It was time to wrap this up and finally get some answers.

*…*…*…*…*…*

 **As always, thanks for reading! Still have writer's block with some later chapters, but hopefully I'll be motivated to jump back into the story soon. Thanks to the two Guests and DragonSilhouette for the reviews, and thanks to all of you that continue to follow.**

 **Peanut**


	19. Chapter 19: Overcome

Chapter Nineteen: Overcome

It didn't take long for everyone to arrive at the cave. Batman and Robin drove to a local zeta tube and travelled back through there, and then Kaldur, Wally, and Roy travelled via the bioship. It would have been easier for them to find a Zeta tube too, but Batman specifically told Kaldur to take a straightforward route with limited escape options. He didn't want to treat Roy as a criminal, but considering that he just tried to assassinate Lex Luthor, he had little choice in the matter.

Along the way, there wasn't much conversation between Dick and Bruce. Bruce apologized for suspecting Dick of trying to kill Luthor, but Dick just nodded and said that Bruce had reason to suspect him. After that, Dick promised to open up to him, Dinah, and Kaldur. He wanted a private meeting with the three of them, and Bruce certainly wasn't going to argue with that. Dick was finally going to open up—he couldn't complain about that.

So when the team arrived at the cave, Batman was waiting at the hangar. He saw Wally and Kaldur escort Roy off the ship and the rest of the team follow in silence. "Everyone but Aqualad, take him to one of the holding rooms," Batman ordered. "Kid Flash, stand guard outside. Nobody talk to him until I'm there. Kaldur, come with me." Aqualad clearly wasn't sure why they weren't going to interview Roy immediately, but he had come to trust Batman enough that he simply followed after him. "Robin requested a meeting with you, me, and Black Canary. After we hear him, then we'll go to Red Arrow."

"Okay," Kaldur agreed. Batman could tell that he wanted to ask more, but he kept his mouth shut instead. He understood Kaldur's questions since he had quite a few of his own. It was time they finally got answers from Robin.

The two of them entered the therapy room where Robin waited with Black Canary. The chairs were set up in a loose square so that that way, Robin wouldn't feel intimidated with three chairs lined up directly in front of him. Even though he requested the meeting, his expression was uneasy.

Bruce took the seat to Dick's left and Kaldur the one to the right. Dinah had already taken the one directly across from him. The silence in the room was tense and full of uncertainty.

"I've been trying to gather the words for a while now," Dick said softly. "I still don't feel confident I'll get it all right."

"That's alright, Dick," Dinah said in a therapeutic tone. "Tell us what you can, and we'll ask questions where we need to."

Dick nodded faintly. He refused to look up at anyone and instead looked at the hands that were folded in his lap. "After I initially came back, you all encouraged me to do therapy sessions. And I was uncooperative—I know that. I didn't have the words. I couldn't even begin to explain what I was feeling because I couldn't understand all my feelings. It was a lot of fear. Scarecrow's toxin is the worst form of torture."

He gripped his hands more tightly and took in a deep breath. He had a speech planned out—he just had to give it. "They kept me sedated for the time that I was there. I don't know specifically how long I was sedated, but we can figure it was at least 12 days. That's what I'm going with for the sake of all this. For those 12 days that I was under, I was dreaming the whole entire time. And they were dreams induced by the fear toxin. I dreamed of my parents' deaths over and over and over again. And I dreamed of all of you all dying repeatedly, in the worst ways possible."

"That's terrible," Canary interjected when Dick seemed to struggle with words.

"It is," he agreed. "But you guys don't seem to get just how bad it was. If you knew how bad it was, you wouldn't have tried to force me to talk about it. I did some research, you know. I found out that the average dream lasts anywhere from 20-30 minutes. I was under for 12 days, or 288 hours. That's the equivalent of 576 dreams. So I had 576 dreams in a row of everyone I love **dying**. Do you get how…" He choked off, shaking his head faintly as he took a moment to compose himself.

"And then I get out of there and you guys think I'm worried about _my_ safety. About Sportsmaster or Luthor coming to get me and kill me. That's not what my fear was about." He dared to look up at Kaldur. "You know my backstory by now, right?" When Aqualad nodded, he continued. "I've already had everyone I loved die on me before. I was terrified it was going to happen again. I still **am** terrified. Roy tonight…" His gaze went to Batman. "Batman, you can't lock him up. You can't take him away."

Bruce was torn. Of course he didn't want to see a juvenile hero locked up. But he did just try to commit murder.

Fortunately, Black Canary saved him from answering that. "We need to know what happened tonight, in order to best help Roy."

Dick nodded and stared at her. "I opened up to Roy about some of this stuff. Like the dreams and how afraid I was. I told him I was afraid of Luthor, but not _why_ I was afraid. Roy took it upon himself to try and get rid of my fear. Kind of."

"Kind of?" Canary repeated.

"He tried to convince me to kill Luthor too. He brought up the idea a few days ago, and I told him no. He brought it up again earlier today and said he was going to take care of it. I knew he would, and in a moment of weakness thought that was a good thing at first. If Luthor was dead, maybe our identities would be safe. Maybe I wouldn't have to worry about the people I love dying because of him."

"But you could not let that happen," Kaldur said evenly.

"No, I couldn't. So I raced to the school to warn Luthor. He was like you guys. So skeptical. But when Roy showed up and pointed an arrow at him, he took me a lot more seriously. After that…well, you guys know the rest."

They may have known the rest about what happened with Luthor, but there were other gaps in the story. Did Dick even know why they thought he was capable of that?

"The day that the team rescued you, Miss Martian couldn't establish a telepathic link," Batman said factually. "Kaldur told me that you went back into the building to take care of the g-gnome that was blocking the link. Right?" Dick nodded in agreement, so he continued. "When Black Canary went back to retrieve Sportsmaster, she was that the g-gnome was dead. We suspected that you had something to do with that."

At that comment, Dick rose to his feet and faced away from everyone. "We didn't want to go there, Dick," Dinah said for the trio. "But we had no other options to consider. Can you explain what happened?"

Dick took in a deep breath. His shoulders rose and sunk as he forced himself to relieve the pressure. "I…tried to reason with it," he said slowly. "I knew it was just a minion for Lex and Sportsmaster, so I thought I could try to talk to him to get him to stop blocking the telepathy. He wouldn't respond to any of my begging. I knew that killing it was the only other way to get the block down…but I couldn't do it. Even after seeing everyone die in over five hundred dreams, I couldn't do what was necessary to save them."

The three looked amongst themselves in both confusion and relief. "If you did not kill the creature," Kaldur began, "who did?"

"…It was Roy," Dick confessed. "He burst in. Saw me holding my birdarang but not taking the creature down. He grabbed it from me and told me it was okay, that I didn't have to kill it. I was relieved. I thought he knew something that I didn't. But then he took the birdarang and stabbed it through the head."

Dick walked back over to the chairs and grabbed onto the back of it. "I think I may have collapsed to the ground when I saw it," he said. "I felt so queasy…Roy took my shoulders and told me it was necessary. He ordered me to go find the rest of the team and told me he'd meet me out there. I didn't know what else to do, so I did what he said. I burst out the door and there was Artemis and M'gann."

So, that was it then. All of that suspicion and fear and skepticism were misplaced all along. Kaldur had alienated Dick for no reason.

"You guys had a right to be skeptical. I kept my mouth shut for too long. But I ran off to Haly's Circus sincerely looking for healing, and you guys all invaded that. That wasn't right. I was starting to heal but now… I'm not alright."

"But you're not a murderer. Tonight proved that," Bruce said proudly.

Dick looked angry. "I already knew that. It was you guys who lost faith in me, not the other way around."

Guilty as charged. And they all knew it.

"I'll admit that I feel incredibly lost right now," Dick said factually. "I'm anxious and tired and always on edge. I'm not the same person that I was before this whole thing. I don't know if I ever can be that person again…but I owe it to myself to try."

Again, the three were silent for a few moments. Nobody knew what to say or if Dick was even done talking. When the silence hung in the air, Canary was the one who broke the silence. "We can help you along that path," she offered.

"There's only one way that you guys can help me. And I need you to take me seriously right now."

"We are," Kaldur encouraged. "How can we help?"

Dick took off his Robin mask and held it in front of him. His blue eyes stared down at it and refused to lift to any of his friends or family. "I need you to accept my resignation."

*…*…*…*…*…*

After some time, all four of them came out of the conference room. Dick had half expected the whole team to be out there eavesdropping, but they weren't. It would have been nicer if they were, since Dick now had the unpleasant job of repeating what he just discussed with his mentors. He was resigning, at least temporarily. Batman had offered to tell the team so Dick didn't have to, and for a brief moment he had thought about accepting, but he knew his friends deserved better than that.

The four of them walked towards the holding area, and that was where they found the whole team. Wally may have been the only one ordered to stand guard, but everyone was sitting around with him. Dick figured it was to get answers about what happened at the school. After all, Wally was the only person who could have filled them in up to this point since Dick and Kaldur and Batman were all in their own meeting.

As soon as the team saw the four approach, they all stood up and looked eagerly between each person.

"Black Canary and I need to speak to Red Arrow. Alone," Batman emphasized. That last comment was directed at everyone, since it wasn't beneath them to snoop.

"We will have our own team meeting in the lounge," Kaldur declared. "Come."

Again, there were glances between the members. As Kaldur and Dick started walking at the front of the pack, the rest of the team quickly fell in line. This was their chance at answers, so they weren't going to blow that by standing around and lingering outside Roy's room for too long.

"Dick, you okay?" Dick glanced to the side and saw that Wally had walked faster than everyone else and had caught up to him. He looked beyond worried, which wasn't unusual for him these days. It made Dick sad to realize that he was the cause of all that worry.

"I'm okay," he said softly. But even after he said it, Wally didn't seem to believe him.

They arrived at the sofas. Wally, Artemis, Conner, and M'gann all crammed themselves onto one couch. Dick took a single seat that was a 90 degree turn away from the main couch. Kaldur stood.

"Robin?" Aqualad checked. The Boy Wonder shook his head faintly. He knew that it was his job to tell everyone, but he couldn't start this conversation. He knew that everyone would try to talk him out of leaving and a small part of him feared giving in.

"Allow me to first tell you about tonight," Aqualad said, focusing his attention on the rest of the team. "Batman, Kid Flash, and I went to the school because we believed that Robin was going to get revenge on Lex Luthor. We were wrong. It was Red Arrow who was seeking revenge. Robin was there to protect Luthor."

"Wally already told us," Superboy said.

"Then that means I can move on to the next topic," Kaldur said with a faint nod. He didn't seem pleased to move on, but they needed to address the elephant in the room. "I just had a meeting with Black Canary, Batman, and Robin. Robin made a request of us and the three of us agreed to honor that request."

Robin jumped in before Kaldur had to say anything more. He was already bearing more of the burden than he should have had to. "I asked for the three of them to accept my resignation from this team and from being Robin."

"WHAT?!"

All four on the couch said the word, but their tones were vastly different. KF's was loud and full of astonishment. Artemis's actually fit that description too. M'gann and Connor, however, were much more subdued. It was as if the sentence hit them so hard they didn't have the ability to speak any more loudly.

"Dick, if this is because I didn't believe you with Lex, I-"

"Wally, it's not," Dick interrupted. "And it's okay. I forgive you for that."

"What caused this all of a sudden?" Artemis asked.

"It's not sudden for me. I've been thinking about it all week. My reaction to Lex being at school was…not good. I felt a lot of anxiety. And I feel that all the time now. Ever since everything happened, I don't think I've had a moment where I wasn't afraid. And I can't be Robin if I'm going to feel that way all the time. Imagine me going out on missions like that. I'd be a danger to you guys and to myself. Same with Batman."

"Okay," Artemis conceded. "But what about getting some counseling? Or some medication? Scarecrow's fear toxin could still be causing all this."

Dick looked at her with a sad understanding. "Scarecrow's toxin has been out of your system for a while now. But can you honestly tell me that's stopped you from being extra on edge and scared?" When Artemis looked away, he had his answer. Even after the toxin was gone, it had a psychological effect that wasn't so easily countered.

"I'm not making this decision lightly," Dick continued when everyone was silent. "Someday, I hope to come back. But I need some distance. I need time to heal physically and mentally. Having a 'normal' life is the best solution I can think of right now."

"Will you still come by the cave?" M'gann asked hopefully.

"…Access to the cave is restricted to members of the team," Robin said. "I won't be visiting for a while."

They knew that was partially true, but at the same time, this was _Robin_ they were talking about. He'd be welcome by any members of the team or Justice League anytime. Dick was just saying it was a rule as an excuse to stay away.

"Robin will do everything he can to heal himself," Kaldur said for his friend. "The rest of us will have to do our best to support him not as his teammates, but as his friends."

"Batman says his house is open any time," Dick added with a faint smile. "Stop by anytime. Just not during school hours, okay? I'm going back next week. For real this time." He rose from his seat, dusting off his uniform just to have something to do. "For now though…I'm heading out, guys. In case I can't say it again, I want you guys to know that I'm proud of this team. Keep it up while I'm gone, okay?'

The team murmured their "okays" and their promises to do their best. The whole team stood up to say their goodbyes, with Kaldur going first since he was standing right there. He reached out his hand and shook Robin's. "Don't forget," he said, "you were meant to lead this team. I'll lead until you're ready."

Next was Wally. Instead of just giving Dick a "man hug," he wrapped both his arms around him in a brotherly embrace. He was considerate of Dick's ribs, since he just tackled him a few hours ago. "I'll be racing over every day," he promised.

Artemis was next. She gave him a hug and then pulled back, holding onto his shoulders. "I'll see you at school Monday, okay?" Even though it was probably easiest for her to say goodbye for that reason, she had tears in her eyes.

M'gann hugged him next. "You're not alone," she said. "Don't ever forget that." That one got Dick a little teary.

Finally, Conner. Conner held out his hand and shook Dick's. "You're making the right choice," he said, much to everyone's surprise. "You're going to overcome this."

"Yeah," Dick agreed. He shook Conner's hand and then stepped back, distancing himself from his teammates. Former teammates, really.

"You can always come back here," Kaldur said. "Remember that."

"Can't forget it," Dick assured everyone. He nodded to the whole team, eyeing them one last time. It would probably be a while before he saw any of them again. A faint smile appeared on his lips out of sadness and pride. An atlantean, a speedster, an archer, and two aliens—what a strange family he had now. But it was a family nonetheless.

He turned and walked away from all of them, all their words ringing in his ear. Superboy's in particular stuck with him, because he was right. This was the right decision. And he was also right in saying that he was going to triumph in all this. He wouldn't be overcome by the pain. He would overcome.

*…*…*…*…*…*

 **Author: Yay, a chapter that finally ends with a sense of optimism! The story isn't quite done yet though. Chapter 20 is in the works, and then after that, I don't know what'll happen. What I do know is that National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is starting tomorrow, November 1** **st** **. I'll be devoting my time to my original novel during that time. If anybody else is interested in that and wants to be my friend on there, just send me a message and I'd love to be your friend!**

 **Til next time,**

 **Peanut**

 **PS: Thanks Guest, Quarica, and Ardoa88 for reviews for Chapter 18 :D**


	20. Chapter 20: Ordinary

Chapter Twenty: Ordinary

"How's ordinary life, Dick?"

Dinah Lance's question wasn't meant to be obnoxious, but a small part of Dick took offense to it. But it was her job to ask questions like that. After all, one condition of his resignation was that he would receive therapy from her. It felt more natural to think of her by her first name now instead of thinking of her as Black Canary, especially since they were at his home and neither of them were costumed.

"Dick?" she checked again.

"Ordinary life is….ordinary," he finally said. _Obnoxiously ordinary._ "I knew I was signing up for a more boring life, but it feels hollow in some ways. Don't get me wrong—I enjoy actually focusing on school and talking with classmates more. Not having to keep secrets is a perk too. But a part of me misses being Robin."

"How are you doing with your anxiety?"

"Better." And that was the truth, too. "I haven't had a panic attack since I came back from Haly's Circus. I still have trouble sleeping when Bruce is out and whenever the team is on a mission, I have a really hard time unwinding. But I'm taking back control. I'm able to will the emotions down and force myself to be calm...er."

"That's really something to be proud of. Most people wouldn't have that degree of control so soon after the trauma."

"It's been four months since it all began," Dick stated. "Two since my resignation."

"That's not long, in the grand scheme of things. It often takes years to cope with things like this."

"I'm not so sure my case is ordinary," he said with a weak smile.

"No, but even you're human. You're allowed to cope like one."

That was something else he had to come to terms with. A part of him always knew that he was only human. It's kind of hard to forget that when you fight along an Atlantean, a Martian, and a Kryptonian. But at the same time, that's exactly why he _did_ forget. He was an equal with them in many ways. That boosted his ego to an unhealthy level and him start thinking that his own durability was higher than it was.

This whole thing proved to him that he was still human. His body was still fragile and so were his heart and mind. It took training to strengthen it, and that was what he was going through right now at his own pace and in his own way. He once told Artemis to "Get traught or get dead." He was applying that quote to his own recovery. He had to stay calm and fight against his anxiety or he would be a shell of himself for the rest of his life.

"You know," Dinah began, "the team would really like you to come back to the cave to hang out with them every once in a while."

"I appreciate that, but that's a place for the team. Right now, I'm not on the team."

"Nobody is willing to see you as anything but a team member. They all believe that you'll be back fighting alongside them someday."

"What do you think?"

"Honestly? I agree with them. It's hard to view you as just Dick Grayson. Robin is a part of who you are, and to see you cast it off like this feels…unnatural."

Dick leaned forward on his couch, curiosity getting to him. "You were the first one to accept my resignation," he reminded her.

"I agreed you shouldn't be in the battlefield right now. There are too many variables with your anxiety and loss of confidence. But it seems like you're trying to cast off Robin entirely. When's the last time you saw any of your teammates?"

She did have a point. The only time he saw his teammates were when they initiated hangouts. There was one time they all just showed up at his house and sat on his couch playing video games, but aside from that, they weren't being too forceful. He texted Wally every once in a while, but that was about it.

"I'm not saying you have to go to the cave," Dinah said. "And you don't have to don the costume any time soon. Just stay connected to that side of your life too—your friends in particular." She glanced at her watch and stood up. "I'll see you next week, okay?"

"Okay," he agreed. Dinah led herself out, and then Dick was alone in the living room. Alfred wasn't in the immediate area and neither was Bruce. One message that Dinah consistently gave Dick was to be open with those two as well, but she assured him that he would be able to do it on his own. Meetings were confidential and nobody was allowed to eavesdrop on them. He appreciated that privacy. Now that he was a few weeks in, he actually was very open with both Bruce and Alfred about everything. It felt good to not keep secrets or be afraid of judgment.

That advice worked well enough, so he figured he should follow up on Dinah's other advice too. He pulled out his cell phone and opened up his contacts to Wally West. " _You wanna hang out sometime?_ " After he clicked send, he realized that it was a Saturday morning. Wally was definitely trying to sleep in and wouldn't get back to him for a few hours.

Or so he thought. Just a minute later, he heard the doorbell ring and Alfred went to answer it. "Oh dear…!" Alfred began as the door cracked open. Just a moment later, there was a disheveled speedster standing in the living room.

"Got your text," Wally said with a cheesy grin.

"Of course you did," Dick smirked. Wally did look like he just woke up—his perpetually messy hair was all over the place, orange shirt and jeans wrinkled, and his sneakers were mismatched. "I guess now's as good a time as any to hang out. But I'm guessing you'd like some breakfast?"

"You know me—never say no to food!"

"Alfred…" There he was, standing in the doorway. He fortunately looked more amused than angered about Wally bursting in here before he could do his job as doorman. "Do we have any breakfast around?"

"Enough for Master Wally? Highly doubtful. But I'll see what I can find."

"You're the best," Wally called after the butler.

"I'm aware."

As Alfred walked into the kitchen, Wally plopped himself down onto the couch. "Did I ever mention how cool it is you have a person that's dedicated to cooking food and keeping the house clean?"

"Once or twice." Dick glanced off in Alfred's direction, rubbing his hair as he tried to think of something to add to the conversation. Wally was trying to ease into a conversation and make it less awkward. It had been a little while since the two of them just hung out, so neither of them were quite sure of what to say to each other. And with team talk basically off limits, it made sense that they were in a bit of a rut. Dick knew he was to blame for pushing everyone away, but still—he wasn't a fan of the lack of conversation topics. After a few moments, he chose a generic topic. "How's school?"

"Typical. Stressful with finals coming up. But I'm so excited for Christmas break that I don't really care. How about you? You feel like you're caught up on everything after….everything?"

"I'm good, yeah. Barbara's been tutoring me."

"Oh, Barbara, huh?" Wally wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "What's going on in that field?"

Dick said down and shrugged, trying to be as nonchalant as possible. "Nothing," he said casually. "She's a friend."

"Um, a friend who knows your secret! And besides, Artemis says she sees you guys hanging out at school quite a bit."

He could have argued that latter bit, but with Wally, there wasn't much point. He sighed and gave in. "Yeah, she knows my secret. And since then, things have been kind of weird. She doesn't know how to talk to me like she did before. So I asked her to start tutoring me to get me caught up. At least that way we are still 'talking', you know?"

"Dude…sorry to hear that."

"It's fine," he said quickly. "It's just taking her some time to get used to everything. She started out being a little protective of me. I was a little shaky at school for a while. But once I was cleared physically, she loosened up a lot. It's just a matter of time before we can start talking about normal stuff again."

"That's good." He paused only briefly as he considered his next words. "How does Bruce feel about her knowing?"

"He's okay with it. I trust her, so he trusts her. Besides, she's always been a huge supporter of Batman. She and her dad both are."

"Commissioner Gordon, right?" Wally checked.

"Yeah. He doesn't know anything though. Barbara said she didn't tell him, and I trust her, so…"

"Nice. That's awesome."

"Yeah."

Again, there was a gap in what to talk about. Everything always came back to the team—always back to the lives that they led outside of the ordinary. It felt so trivial to talk about homework and exams when there were people like Luthor and Sportsmaster out there having their way. The team had gone out on mission in the past month, and they weren't related to either of the two. At least, not directly enough to get either of them in trouble.

 _Be open and honest,_ Dinah said to Dick a few sessions ago. _With everyone_.

 _Small talk doesn't suit us anyway,_ Dick silently agreed. "Hey, man, I'm sorry I've been MIA for a while now. It hasn't been fair to you guys."

"Don't sweat it, Dick," Wally replied instantly. "We get it—you're trying to sort out your life as a civilian. All of us just wish…" He hesitated, but when Dick nodded to encourage him, he continued. "We wish you didn't hang up the cape. We know it was wise for a time, but we want you back. You're kind of the heart of the team."

He wouldn't have given himself that name, but he was touched at the sentiment. He guessed everyone missed him creating words on the fly. "I'd like to see everyone again," he admitted.

"Then let's go to the cave, today!" Wally encouraged excitedly. "Everyone but me's on standby today, so they'd all be there. You know how boring it is to be waiting on a mission that never comes. M'gann'll be sure to have a ton of cookies made up, and-"

"I get it," Dick interrupted, chuckling to himself. "We'll head over as soon as you finish Alfred's breakfast."

"Well, that won't take me long!"

*…*…*…*…*…*

" _Robin-B-0-1."_

" _Kid Flash-B-0-3."_

Even as they entered the cave, Wally was still talking about Alfred's breakfast. "I'm telling you, I've never seen a man consistently make bacon where it is perfectly crispy without tasting the slightest bit burnt. And it tastes so fresh, I swear he must have called someone that morning to kill and butcher a pig so that he could cook it to perfection. Same thing with the eggs!"

"Okay, Wally," he smirked. Dick was amused and all, but he was more concerned about the fact that he was back in the cave for the first time since his resignation. And apparently the whole team was here waiting in case a mission came in. He figured that at least someone would have heard the zeta announcement that he and Kid were here for the day.

He didn't have to wonder about that for too long. Before he was even halfway across the main area, he saw all four of his other friends standing in the doorway. "Well, that didn't take long," he mumbled mostly to Wally.

His best friend smirked and grabbed Dick by the shoulder. "Look what I dragged in!" he called proudly.

"You didn't _actually_ kidnap him, did you?" Artemis asked Wally as she and the rest approached at a fast walk.

"What? Pshhh, no! I wouldn't…actually…"

"I came on my own," Dick said to the group. "Did you guys have some kind of elaborate plan to get me back here or something?"

"Nothing ever finalized," Conner said with a straight face. The rest of the group turned pink in embarrassment, but Dick just started to laugh.

"That's so typical," he said with a smile. "What was the plan?"

"Unimportant," M'gann said before anyone else could blab. "How are you?"

"Good. Back to 100% health-wise. Out of shape, but I'm getting back there."

"Does that mean you will rejoin us soon?"

Dick was surprised that Kaldur would be the most blunt one in this situation. As leader it made sense for him to want a full team back together, but the hope in his voice was something he hardly heard from his serious leader. And besides that, he had hardly been expected to be put on the spot. But now the whole team was waiting on the answer.

"I…"

" _Batman-0-2._ "

" _Green Arrow-0-8._ "

" _Red Arrow B-0-6._ "

" _Martian Manhunter 0-7._ "

" _Superman 0-1._ "

" _Aquaman 0-6._ "

" _Flash 0-4._ "

 _Saved by the Zeta Tube,_ Dick thought to himself, turning to see a huge group enter the hall. It was really weird to see the whole crew here. It was nice to see Roy again, and to see that he wasn't in a huge amount of trouble. Batman had told him that Roy's punishment was to revert back to Green Arrow's sidekick for three months so that he would learn some restraint again. It was a very light sentence for a person who attempted to kill Lex Luthor.

After seeing Red Arrow's serious expression, Dick looked over at Batman. Batman noticed him at the same time and his eyes got wide behind his mask. He looked…scared. Everyone did, actually.

"Is something wrong?" Kaldur asked the adults. The whole team noticed their serious expressions and any joy that they had at seeing Dick quickly vanished.

"We just received an anonymous call that there's a bomb hidden in the cave," Aquaman said gravely.

"How is that even possible?" Conner asked.

"It doesn't matter," Batman said. "Those of you vulnerable to fire will leave. You too, Dick."

He knew why Batman was telling him to leave, but he wasn't going to leave that quickly. Not when he could help. "No, I-"

Suddenly it felt as if the entire cave around them rumbled and trembled. Dick (along with everyone else) took a step forward and crouched slightly to rebalance themselves when a shockwave reverberated in the ground beneath their feet. The lights above them flickered once and then went out entirely before being replaced by the red emergency lights. The sound of an explosion reverberated throughout the room, but there was no fire that they could see in their line of vision.

" _All systems offline,"_ their omnipresent voice said over the speakers. In other words, exiting through zeta was no longer an option. And since the ships were all the way at the other end, it was safe to bet that there was a fire between them and their other exit.

Batman was immediately taking charge. "Superman and Superboy, go find out where that was. Aquaman, Aqualad, Martian Manhunter, and Miss Martian, go to the water."

Just as he was about to give further instruction, they heard another boom resound through the area. And then another smaller one. Either the original bomb had set something else on fire, or there were multiple bombs placed in the cave.

Batman adjusted his plans accordingly. "Flash and Kid Flash, run through the whole area to make sure there are no other bombs. Green Arrow, Red Arrow, and Artemis, help extinguish any fires that you see."

"Let's go," Superman said to the Arrows. "We'll stick together for now." When the archers agreed, the five of them ran off. All the others aside from Batman and Dick ran off as well. They all had their missions. Time was of the essence if they were going to put out the fires and stop any others from going off.

However, there were two people left in that main room, and neither of them had any intention of sitting still. "Dick" Batman said, turning to face his adoptive son head-on. "I need you to don your spare suit."

It made sense. There was fire around and possibly more bombs that were going to go off. His suit was fire-resistant and he was sure the team would need all the help they could get putting out those fires. Dick silently nodded and started to run off, but Batman grabbed his upper arm.

"Not without me," he said instantly. "Stay close to me."

Now _that_ was probably not just because he wasn't wearing flame resistant clothing. He wasn't even supposed to be at the cave today, so that fact that he was and he was in danger was probably more unnerving to Bruce than it was to anyone else.

"I know," he responded evenly. "Let's go."

Dick started running first with Bruce hot on his heels. The cave seemed to creak around them, but he knew that was just the noises of the fire reverberating through the cavern. In the first minute or two of sprinting, neither of them heard any other new explosions. With every minute that passed, Dick began to feel safer.

The room that they went to was the locker room. This was where the team cleaned up after missions and training exercises. Aside from that, it was where they all kept spare costumes.

While Dick raced over to his locker and opened it with his trembling hands, he heard Batman speak over the comlink with the rest of the team. He couldn't hear about the large fire in the hanger that had blown out their main power source, or how Kaldur and Aquaman were staying in that area and using their water manipulation to help put out the fire while the Flashes were running and inspecting things.

What he _could_ hear was the sound of something dropping to the ground in the next room over.

His costume was in his hands and ready to be donned, but he couldn't ignore the clamoring noise that he heard. Batman was still speaking on the comlink and hadn't heard what Dick had. Still, Dick wasn't foolish enough to step out of Bruce's view even if he was busy.

Once Dick made eye contact with him, he pointed to his ear and then pointed two fingers towards the direction the sound came from. Batman nodded in recognition and motioned for Dick to start move forward while he ended his conversation with the team. His costume dropped to the floor as he clipped his utility belt around his waist. The noise that he heard hadn't sounded like a bomb going off or any immediate fiery explosion; it sounded like there was a person up ahead.

The room that he approached was the ventilation room. It was a room that had three gigantic fans hooked up to the three primary vents for the whole cave. Even though the systems for the rest of the cave were knocked offline with the main generator, the fans were powered by a separate one. They needed to be to help the oxygen flow in the cave.

Dick wordlessly reached into his belt and pulled out his eskrima sticks. His hands tightly gripped each one as he approached the door. It was slightly ajar, but not enough for him to peek in easily. Knowing Batman was just a few steps behind him, Dick tapped the door open with one of the sticks to reveal the room.

The three fans were running, same as normal. But there was a huge metallic device resting in front of them that Dick had never seen before. It was a large oval tin that was technological and had wirers, timers, and lights flashing on it. It wasn't a bomb, but he had no doubt that it was a threat.

Dick stepped into the room several steps and glanced around him. There was no one there. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Batman looking at him with eager expectation. He just shrugged at his mentor. For a moment, he was tempted to put away his weapons, but then he noticed the wrench that was lying on the ground near the device. _That_ must have been what dropped. And Dick didn't think that it had just fallen off the device.

The infiltrator sensed in Dick's moment of recognition that there was no point in hiding any more. Three beeps sounded behind Dick and then reverberated in a small explosion. Dick had just enough time to rush forward, further away from the door, to avoid the explosion that completely destroyed the doorframe and closed off the room from anyone on the other side. Specifically, Batman.

The figure who had been hiding behind the device raced forward towards Dick and attempted to knock him out with one punch only to see that the Boy Wonder may not have been in uniform or even active at that time, but he was still Batman's protégé. He leaned backwards and missed the punch while instinctively swinging his left stick into the person's stomach. The grunt that escaped their lips was more feminine than Dick had initially expected.

Just as he was about to bring the second stick down on the person's back, she reached up and grabbed his arm. She propelled him backwards into the device, which echoed the loud thud Robin's body made against it. Dick grunted and began to pick himself up, seeing the person standing in front of him between him and the fiery doorway.

"Cheshire."

Even if she wore her typical mask, Dick had no doubt that Jade Nguyen was the one standing in front of him. She was the one who knocked out Artemis for Sportsmaster, but she was also the one who gave the team a big hint about why they took Robin in the first place. In his mind, that put them on okay terms. But now that she was in their hideout with a huge…thing, he couldn't help but stare at her suspiciously.

"Robin!" It was Batman's voice that shouted through the shouldering wreckage that had previously been a door. There were minor holes in the debris, but those spaces were being licked by dangerous flames. Even with his gloves, Bruce wouldn't be able to dig through those hot flames and get into the room. And the rest of the team was busy handling the fires.

Dick knew immediately that defeating Cheshire and disarming the mysterious device was squarely on his shoulders.

Without hesitation he charged forward and swung at her again. The big device behind him squeaked and squealed as a white vapor began to pour out of it and towards the fans that pulled air into the rest of the cave. He had to finish this quickly, or that mysterious gas was going to spread out to the whole cave. He launched a fist upward into Cheshire's jaw, but he barely even touched her mask as she danced backwards to avoid the hit. When he raced forward again, she simply dodged the punch without returning it. Same with the kick that he launched towards her shins. She was hardly even fighting him.

Humiliation became his fury. He swung right. Then left. Then kicked. Then jumped. Then threw one of his sticks. _Nothing_ was working on the agile assassin.

 _I can't outfight her. I have to outsmart her._ The mist that was leaving the device and flowing out into the rest of the cave couldn't have been good. Surely she didn't want to breathe that in. with that mask protecting her face, though, she would be fine to stay as long as the fire didn't expand and overtake the whole room. He, on the other hand, was already sweating through the flames and finding the air harder to breathe.

He reached into his belt and pulled out his stunner. While he sprung forward and swung his stick, his other hand redirected and shot out the stun grapple. Its tip embedded itself in Cheshire's leg and sent shocks through her core.

While she was strong enough to pull the stunner out of her leg, she wasn't focused enough to see what Dick's true purpose was. While she swung at the stunner, he reached forward and swiped the mask right off her face.

Her expression beneath it was both stunned and horrified. She grabbed Dick's arm and swung him around the room again, this time dangerously close to the smoldering doorway. A smoke bomb of hers filled the room and Dick strained to see where she was. He kept a tight hold on the mask in his hand and began to rise to his feet only to have a fist collide with his stomach while another hand grasped the mask and tore it away from him. He doubled over in pain and wheezed through the smoke of the fire, the smoke of the bomb, and the smoke of the machine. When the air cleared, Cheshire was gone. Escaped through one of the large vents in the ceiling.

"Batman," he wheezed, too quietly. He stood up completely and coughed out some smoke as he turned to face the door. "Batman! This thing's pumping some sort of gas through the vents! It's been going for the past five minutes already."

"I'm digging through the rubble to get to you right now."

"That's not what I meant," Dick said. "…Batman, you have to get everyone out. You know what this is, don't you?" Even though they hadn't done a single analysis, both of them knew in their hearts what that gas was. There was no doubt that this was the revamped version of the fear toxin they perfected by experimenting on him. "Can you imagine _Superman_ getting this in his system? Or J'onn?" The silence on the other side of the door was enough to assure him that he and Batman were on the same page. "You _have_ to get them out. If you don't, we're both dead anyway." The powerhouses of the team would attack them in fear and it would be game over. Death.

"I'm not leaving you again," Batman finally replied.

"I'll crawl through the vents as soon as I disarm this thing. I'm not dying. I promise."

The air continued to hiss out of the machine. Time passed but neither of them acknowledged it.

"…Stay traught," Batman advised. His footsteps could be heard leaving the scene as he rushed off to warn the rest of the team and see how the flames were. Dick smiled faintly at the words of advice and then turned his attention to the machine. His name was Dick Grayson. He was Robin. No more split personality here. Now, it was his turn to save the day.

Dick continued breathing in the toxic fear gas as he pulled tool after tool out of his utility belt and began to work at dismantling the machine. The flames surrounding the door didn't grow or shrink, but the gas eventually did. Even so, Dick was aware of his heart rate increasing and his thoughts beginning to swirl with fear. Imagining his teammates inhaling the fear gas and turning into shells of themselves was the fear that clouded his mind. He had no fear for himself—just for everyone that he loved. He didn't want them to suffer like he had suffered. Like he was suffering through those moments.

The last of the gas fizzled out of the nozzle as Dick turned it off. 85% of the tank was still full. That meant that 15% of the gas escaped and was in the air of the cave. Hopefully by now, Batman yelled at everyone over the com to get out, or at least get to areas where the air would be clean. As much as Dick wished they could catch Cheshire too, he knew that she was in the wind.

All that mattered was that the crisis was averted. He succeeded in saving his team this time. He pushed himself away from the machine and leaned his back against one of the walls. His chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath and chase away any tears that had come out when the gas was suffocating him. Mentally he knew that the danger was over; the machine was dismantled, Cheshire was long gone, and his team was evacuated. But here he was, alone again.

He suddenly heard the sound of debris moving. He opened his eyes and stared straight ahead from his spot, seeing two hands break through the obliterated wall and door and rip through the still smoldering pieces of wood and cement. His heard leapt in his chest out of fear when he realized that he was wrong—not everyone evacuated. There was a chance that he failed.

The hands kept digging and eventually, a figure shoved himself through the debris and stood in its smoke in the room. When it cleared, Dick saw that it was Superboy. He just stood there with his hands smoldering and black with soot. His blue eyes may have shown fear, but that disappeared as soon as his eyes actually landed on Dick. Both of them took a minute to survey each other. Each wondered just how badly the other inhaled the fear toxin.

Dick didn't have time to wonder for long. Others crossed over the threshold. Kid Flash, Artemis, Red Arrow…even Miss Martian and Aqualad braved the heat to step into that room. Dick looked at all of them and felt a tired smile appear on his lips. They were all okay. They were all themselves. He gave them a faint thumbs up and saw their shoulders slump in relief.

"You should have left," he said to them. His voice sounded hoarser from the smoke than he had thought it would.

"That wasn't going to happen," Kid said evenly. He walked forward and offered Dick his outstretched hand. Dick equally reached up and grasped it. Once he was on his feet, he sputtered out another cough or two. He could only imagine how bad he looked at that moment.

"Everyone else is already in the med bay," Roy said for the team. "Let's go."

"Everyone?" Dick repeated.

" _No one_ was going to leave you," Kid repeated. "Not us, and not them." When Wally glanced over at his best friend, he noticed the tears that were appearing in Dick's blue eyes. "Dick? Are you hurt? Here…" He pulled Dick's arm over his shoulder and put his lower arm around his back, similar to how he helped him away from Lex Luthor over a month ago. Wally had no way of knowing that Dick wasn't crying out of pain; he was crying out of relief. Even as he and the team began their trek towards the bay and the remedy that Batman was preparing, Dick felt all the emotion rising up in his heart.

His fears were false. He was never going to be alone.

*…*…*…*…*…*

 **Author: Hi everyone, I'm back! Like I said in the last chapter, I was devoting the month of November to NaNoWriMo. For the first time ever, I actually reached 50k and won! The novel's not done yet, but I got stuck and jumped back into this story again. I'm really happy with how this chapter went and how Dick is no longer a shell of himself. The story will be ending pretty soon—maybe just one more chapter. Thanks to all of you who have been following this story for so long and to those of you who have been giving comments. It means more than I can possibly express.**

 **Peanut**

PS: Here's the synopsis of my NaNoWriMo, since Ardoa88 asked about it.

"Every one hundred years, the djinn Edrei appeared in the city of Wisteria and granted the wish of one person. While none but the Chosen and the djinn knew the wish, it was indisputable that wishes often changed the course of history. Everyone looked forward to seeing what era would be brought in with the next Chosen.

However, Edrei did not appear. Two weeks after the day he should have appeared, a prophecy dropped from the sky: _Come find me._

Reporter Lenore and teenage runaway Gideon decide to do just that. Along the way, they meet other allies and foes alike. On their quest they also discover that Edrei himself has a story worth exploring, and the world is a far more exciting place than they expected. They also realize that perhaps the wishes in their hearts should not be granted by the djinn, but granted by themselves instead."

That's what I have for a synopsis. I'm not 100% satisfied with it, but you get the idea.


	21. Chapter 21: Purpose

Chapter Twenty-One: Purpose

Smoke inhalation was the most obvious damage, aside from the fear toxin. Dick was set up in a bed as soon as he arrived at the med bay and was given an oxygen mask for the smoke and a shot for the toxin's remedy. Even with that gas in his system, he was having a hard time being afraid when he saw several of the core Justice League members in front of him along with all of his friends. The only two that weren't there were Roy and Green Arrow, who had gone to look for Cheshire. It was a moot effort, but they had to do it to give themselves some sense of security.

How did she get in? No one knew. That would require a big investigation. Somehow, she probably hacked the ship doors and snuck in that way. Batman admitted before that that was the weakest security that the cave had. But how did she get that device in without anyone noticing or seeing it on security cameras? And how were the bombs placed and detonated? An attack of this scale implied that she wasn't working alone. None of them wanted to consider the notion of a mole (again), but the attack was too deliberate, brutal, and accurate to rule out the possibility.

That was the substance of the conversation Dick listened to as he sat on his hospital bed. He couldn't add much with the oxygen mask on his mouth. Besides that, he was technically a civilian. The fact that he was still in his street clothes and everyone else in costumes was a big reminder of the line that separated all of them.

 _I don't want to be separate from them anymore,_ Dick realized silently. He didn't want to just be Dick Grayson. He wanted to be Robin again. He wanted to be on the team with the people he loved most.

Just as he lifted a hand to remove the mask to speak, the door to the medical bay opened. Black Canary was there along with the Arrows. Though her eyes scanned over the huge mass of people, her eyes quickly landed on Dick. She went over and sat on the edge of the bed, shaking her head at his attempt to remove his mask. "You shouldn't take that off just yet," she told him.

Of course, once her attention was on him, so was everyone else's. They all stared at him expectantly as he disobeyed Canary and took the mask off. "I…" His voice was hoarser than he would have liked it to be. When he tried to clear his throat, he began to cough again. Suddenly Batman was by his other side and placing the mask back on his face.

While he composed himself, the rest of the team continued with their business. It was their way of not drawing any more attention to his weakness.

"There were signs Cheshire escaped through the hangar. And the computer there seemed to be tampered with," Green Arrow informed them.

"I just came from looking at the security feeds," Canary then added. "Footage has already been wiped. It may take some time to get that back."

"What about an accomplice?"

"Certainly possible they came with Cheshire and left before the bombs went off. Maybe she was running late with setting up the gas. How much of it got through the cave?"

"Only about 15%, according to Dick's calculations. We've already tested everyone here and Dick was the only one who inhaled enough to need an antidote."

"You did well, Dick." It was Canary who pointed it out, and she was the one who set a hand on his shoulder affectionately. Behind the mask, Dick gave her a faint smile in return. They both knew the types of fears and issues he was working through. Why, earlier that day she herself had stated it was a good thing he wasn't on the battlefield. And he had agreed. Now, though, things seemed different. They both understood that, based on how they look at each other.

"Batman, I would like to make a request of Dick," Kaldur said to the man. He didn't even wait for Batman's response before he looked at Dick. "Please. Come back and be Robin."

"Kaldur, that is not appropriate for you to spring on him!" Aquaman scolded.

"Please," Kaldur repeated.

Dick glanced at Batman, then to Kaldur, and then to the rest of the team that materialized behind him. He wondered just how long Kaldur had had those words bubbling up inside of him before he finally burst.

"I told you man," Wally said with a slight smile, "you're the heart of this team."

"You've got your groove back," Artemis added. "You handled today like a pro. You've got this."

"We miss you," M'gann inserted.

The only one who didn't speak up was Conner, but his emphatic nod was enough to convey his thoughts.

Dick lifted his hand once more and removed the mask. He had some things that he wanted to say to his teammates, to Batman, and to the rest of the Justice League. Just like Kaldur, the words were so close to his heart that he felt like he would explode if he held them in any longer. "Nothing," he began quietly, "would make me happier."

His teammates cheered amongst themselves, though after a moment, they came back to reality and saw that Dick wasn't looking at them—he was looking at Batman. Batman had the power to squash all their hopes with a single word.

The caped crusader lifted his head and looked at the members of Young Justice. "You heard him, team leader," he said to Kaldur.

Their joy was unrestrained then. M'gann flew forward and tackled Dick in a hug while others suddenly toppled onto the bed. Canary and Batman got out of the way just in time as Dick was swallowed up by his friends. The only three that restrained themselves were Conner, Kaldur, and Roy, but they stood close enough that they were grabbed by the other three to make a crushing hug. Dick heard their joyous laugher and felt chuckles escaping from his own chest.

He was back. And this time, he wasn't going anywhere.

EPILOGUE

Another night, another stakeout mission. The Riddler had escaped from prison a while back, and rumor had it that he was making an appearance in Central City to connect with other well known criminals. Even he knew that he wasn't close to being on the "Top Villains" list.

Dick was camped out with Artemis, KF with Aqualad, and Superboy with Miss M, just like a stakeout mission so long ago where they first discovered the warehouse full of the fear toxin.

That night, Dick recalled he had been feeling particularly strong and confident. His team had many successes and accomplished feats that even the Justice League hadn't been able to do. And he, a human being, stood equally along an alien, a clone, a speedster, an Atlantean, and the skillful archer Artemis. He had many reasons to feel competent in his abilities.

And yet, that night, he failed. He stuck around for a sample when the threat of a bomb was looming over them. It was his overconfidence that led to him and Artemis being injured. Aside from that though, he had little control in the next events. The fear toxin was successful as a gas. The bad guys recognized it and kidnapped him to experiment their second version of the gas on him. He returned a shell of himself and the team treated him as so fragile he got fed up and clammed up. Misunderstands ensued, hearts were broken, and he separated himself from everyone who loved him.

Those months were some of the worst he had ever experienced. No part of him ever wanted to go through that again.

He was an optimistic kind of person who typically believed that things happened for a reason. He could even explain his family's deaths as the factor that led him to Bruce and then to the team. So he tried to find a reason behind all of this, too. Maybe it was to humble him. Maybe it was to teach him new skills. Maybe to give them insight on the bad guys' master plan. Nothing quite fit, though. Perhaps he was too desperate to assign a purpose to it. Maybe it just…was.

No. He was too optimistic to believe that. He may not have seen the purpose yet, but he had faith that someday, he would.

"Riddler at 3 o'clock" Kaldur said over the radio. "Artemis, Robin, he's all yours."

The revived Boy Wonder stood up along with Artemis and looked down below from the building they were on. There was the Riddler. And he'd have no clue what hit him.

Dick glanced over at Artemis and gave her a smirk before he leapt off the building towards his target.

Until he found the purpose behind his suffering—no, even after he discovered the reason behind it all—he'd keep fighting.

He'd overcome every challenge he'd face.

*…*…*…*…*…*…*

 **Author: Thank you so much to everyone who read this story through to its completion! I loved writing this story, and I hope to write some more Young Justice stuff in the future. I have two ideas for Robin-centric stories, but I'm busy with my original novel right now, so those won't be coming out any time soon.**

 **PS: As a side note with this story, since I'm not sure if I properly conveyed this or not. It's implied that Roy was the one who helped Cheshire with everything, since this story takes place before we discover he's the mole. Just imagine that the whole story gets wrapped up the way that it does in the TV show.**

 **Thanks again, everyone. It's been a blast.**

 **Peanut**


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